Almost 72 percent of Germans say that the next government should decide on a timetable for the country’s coal exit, according to a representative survey by Kantar Emnid, commissioned by Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND). 59 percent of respondents said that German coal-fired power plants should be decommissioned “soon”.

BUND head Hubert Weiger said this showed that Germans “expect the federal government to act on a coal exit. A large number of coal-fired power plants must be shut down within the coming two to three years,” according to cleanenergywire.org. Germany’s Climate Action Plan 2050 – which details how the country is to become close to carbon-neutral by mid-century – failed to set a deadline for the last of its coal-fired power plants to go offline.

The country’s power supply still relies heavily on coal, the biggest obstacle to lowering emissions. But jobs and the economy of certain regions are also heavily dependent on the CO2-intensive fuel.