German Politics
Closing the German climate ambition gap
Is Germany Ready for the Future? The Case for Action in a Climate Changed World
Germany, the largest economy in Europe, with a strong financial sector closely tied to the real economy, faces massive, potentially disruptive changes in the coming years. Specifically, these are the challenges of digitalisation, the geopolitical context, the macroeconomic slowdown and the climate crisis. For many years, Germany’s economic...
Op-Ed- Ein Schritt vorwärts ist nicht genug – die verpasste Chance der Klimakanzlerin
Seit Monaten schon wurde der vergangene Freitag zum Höhepunkt deutscher Klimapolitik im Jahr 2019 hochstilisiert. Während 1,4 Millionen Menschen bei Klimastreiks im ganzen Land auf die Straße gingen, verabschiedete die Bundesregierung ein Klimapaket mit dem Ziel, die nationalen und europäischen Klimaziele für...
Op-Ed- One Step Forward Does Not Make a Leader: Germany’s Miss to Regain Climate Leadership
Friday, September 20th was high noon for German climate politics in 2019. Following intense negotiations, the German government has agreed on a set of climate policies with the aim of reaching the country’s 2030 emission reduction targets. The existence of this policy package and its overall architecture are a step...
A role model for European coal phase out? Five lessons from the German Coal Commission
Multi-stakeholder commissions can play a role in shaping sectoral transitions, but they are not a silver bullet to unlock transformative change. When the EU’s Coal Regions in Transition Platform meets next week, the recent coal phase out deal in Germany will feature high on the agenda. The Commission...
Die deutsche Kohlekommission: Vorreiterin für transformativen Klimaschutz?
Im Januar 2019 schlossen die Mitglieder der „Kommission für Wachstum, Strukturwandel und Beschäftigung“ oder kurz Kohlekommission nach langwierigen Verhandlungen einen Kompromiss. Im Abschlussbericht empfehlen die Mitglieder der Kommission bis spätestens 2038 aus der Kohle auszusteigen. Schon bis zum Jahr 2022 sollen zusätzliche Braun-...
The end of coal – Germany needs to get real on ambition
The first reports emerged of Germany’s embattled Coal Commission reaching an agreement after twenty-two hours of final negotiations over the weekend. If the government follows the recommendations of the twenty-eight-member Commission, Germany will phase out of coal by 2038, replacing its 42GW of coal generated power in the coming...
Why, after a hot summer, the German Coal Commission must now keep calm and phase out coal
Like the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, Germany experienced a summer of extreme heat and drought in 2018, impacting different parts of its economy, and bringing home the impacts of a global climate crisis: Power plants, in particular hard coal and nuclear plants, were forced to operate at lower capacities because...
Why are German coal workers so powerful, when there are so few?
With Germany slipping from its position as a climate leader, an industry with just 20,000 jobs is dictating policy to the federal government The German energy transition has long been seen as one of the world’s most ambitious and effective undertakings in the fight against climate change, and...
A Climate For Ambition?
The German government has set up a Commission for “Growth, Structural Change, and Employment”, or “Coal Commission”. This brings together key stakeholders from ministries, industry, trade unions, regions, NGOs and research institutes. It is mandated to propose an action plan for an orderly – and therefore...
Deficit of ambition: how Germany’s new coalition government falls short on climate & energy
On 21 March 2018 in an hour-long speech after her re-appointment as chancellor, Mrs Merkel dedicated less than 40 seconds to climate and energy policy. This is indicative of the level of priority that climate policy is likely to have for her government over the next four years in the absence of greater...