Nearly 42 billion euros in subsidies detrimental to environmental protection efforts | Umweltbundesamt

Subsidies amounting to some 42 billion euros for 2006 in Germany had a negative impact on health and the environment, is the conclusion reached by a Federal Environment Agency study about the adverse consequences of subsidies in Germany, Umweltschädliche Subventionen in Deutschland. The variety of negative effects ranges from acceleration of climate change and impairment of water, soil and air quality, to an increase in land use and decimation of the diversity of species. ”Subsidies that harm the environment counteract the many efforts made in environmental protection”, said UBA President Prof. Andreas Troge. ”Whilst we are spending a great deal of money to protect the environment on the one hand, we are financing market distortions at the cost of that very environment on the other, and that is contradictory to ecologically and economically sustainable budget policy. If the issue of subsidies detrimental to the environment is not addressed, we will be left with the disincentives of the past and must now and in future take all the more countermeasures to safeguard environmental quality. Our motto must be to safeguard and improve the quality of the environment with more consistency and fewer instruments.” read more