Berlin (dpa / lnw) - According to the NRW climate protection minister Mona Neubaur (Greens), the excavation of the Lützerath settlement in the Rhenish district is unavoidable. Three independent reports came to the conclusion that "a headland or island location of the Lützerath settlement cannot be justified in the opencast mine," said Neubaur on Monday in Berlin. There she presented an agreement alongside Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) and RWE boss Markus Krebber, which envisages RWE’s early coal phase-out as early as 2030. In addition, the preservation of several villages in the Rhenish Revier is ensured, but Lützerath has to give way.
Neubaur said that Lützerath "had to be cleared and the coal underneath had to be made available". The Greens stressed the benefits of the agreement. The coal phase-out brought forward to 2030 ensures that 280 tons of CO2 remain underground. The early phase-out from 2038 to 2030 is a great success for climate protection. In addition, the residents of several villages and farms would have the certainty that "they no longer have to be resettled against their will".
With a view to Lützerath, Neubaur admitted that the agreement would not meet with approval everywhere. She emphasized that as a minister she wanted to "get the best possible result for climate protection" in the deliberation process. "The security of energy supply caused by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, which is in violation of international law, now requires the necessary coal under Lützerath - that means Lützerath must be exploited for mining purposes, i.e. excavated".
