FRANKFURT: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday rejected demands to bring forward an exit date for ending coal generation in Germany, currently set at 2038.

"Those affected need some reliability on the path to climate neutrality," Merkel said. "I don't want to unravel this again after one year."

Climate activists say that without an earlier coal phase-out, the more ambitious climate protection targets which Merkel's government just agreed on cannot be achieved.

The draft law - stipulating that Germany aims for a 65% cut in carbon emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2045, up from a previous 55% for 2030 and net zero by 2050 - followed a court ruling last month that a 2019 law failed to ensure sufficient climate protection.