The cabinet of German chancellor Angela Merkel has approved the general lines of a bill to help regions affected by a planned exit from coal and lignite-based power generation by 2038 that includes combined aid pledges of up to €40bn ($44.7bn).
The legislation is geared at helping regions in Eastern Germany and North-Rhine-Westphalia to build up future-oriented industries to soothe possible job losses in the coal sector in an attempt to avoid voters in the coal regions to turn to the far right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) that denies the climate crisis.
