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Environmental group warns of pricey German drinking water

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Environmental group warns of pricey German drinking water
Photo: DPA

Nature protection organization BUND has called the German government’s proposed environmental code book (UGB) “inadequate” and has warned its failings could triple the cost of drinking water.

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“The UGB proposal reveals significant deficits in nature protection and does not improve species and habitat protection,” BUND head Hubert Weiger told German daily Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung on Tuesday.

The UGB’s failing could mean “drinking water costs double or triple for citizens,” Weiger said.

“In Germany there are 100 hectares of countryside built up each day. With the current UGB proposal, this land usage won’t be drastically reduced,” he continued, adding that this reduces opportunities for finding fresh water.

Weiger accused the German government of being “miles away from the goal of reducing daily land consumption to 30 hectares.” The proposal also falls short of adequate laws against over-fertilization and clear cutting forests, he said.

The UGB proposal will be debated in the German parliament, the Bundestag, on Tuesday.

It’s important that the UGB is realized in order to unify German environmental law, Weigert said.

The proposal is made up of five sections that include environmental rules for air, water, and land.

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