Germany’s environment minister has defended a planned bailout of the country’s largest airline to protect jobs in the short term, insisting the next phase of post-coronavirus recovery will be green.

Lufthansa is in talks with the German government over a package reportedly worth €10 billion. The company warned it had cash to survive just weeks as flights were grounded to halt the spread of Covid-19.

Campaigners have repeatedly called for any state aid to carbon-intensive sectors like aviation to be conditional on measurable climate action, but environment minister Svenja Schulze said now was not the time to impose green conditions.

“I do not want to question the bailout money we are dispersing round. We have been internationally commended on our policy on quick help and this is right,” said environment minister Svenja Schulze at the opening press conference of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, a mainstay of the climate diplomacy calendar, which Germany is co-hosting with the UK this week.

Bailouts to the aviation industry have dominated countries’ immediate response to the pandemic. The sector has been brought to its knees from a near-shutdown of air travel.

European airlines have sought €12.8 billion in government bailouts since the start of the pandemic, according to a tracker created by campaign groups Transport & Environment, Greenpeace and Carbon Market Watch.

Air France-KLM is expected to receive a €10 billion relief package in loans and guarantees from the French and Dutch governments.

France’s finance minister Bruno le Maire unveiled €7 billion in support for the carrier on Friday, including €4 billion of state-backed loans and €3 billion of direct loans.

Le Maire warned the relief package was “not a blank cheque” but that support was dependent on environmental conditions, including a CO2-cutting plan and for Air France to become “the most sustainable airline on the planet”.  Details on what this means are yet to be finalised and the European Commission still needs to approve the plan.

Back online, ministers taking part in the Petersberg Climate Dialogue are due to discuss how to maintain momentum for climate action this year. A key UN climate summit, Cop26, initially due to be held in Glasgow, UK, in November has been postponed to an unspecified date in 2021.

Schulze, said the international community should “stick to the schedule set by the Paris climate agreement” and that countries needed to “present updated climate protection goals this year”.

Guest post from Climate Home News