Schwerin (dpa/mv) - The state government has started online participation in the planned climate protection law with the agricultural sector. On this occasion, Climate and Agriculture Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) defended the sector's climate balance sheet: "Solar and wind energy as well as biogas plants alone provide the companies and rural areas with a significant proportion of the renewable energy provided in the country," he said Friday in Schwerin. In the national average, only 8.9 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are generated by agriculture.

He called on citizens to get involved and come up with concrete ideas and suggestions on how to reduce emissions in agriculture. "It is important to us that the climate protection law really becomes a joint project here in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania," said Backhaus. The climate protection law should be in place by the end of the year.