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Dossier

Preview2018 - Outlook for Germany's Energiewende

Climate targets, coal & renewables funding set to top Germany's Energiewende agenda

 

Germany's 2020 climate targets are Germany's first major Energiewende policy issue in 2018 - even before a new government has been found. In this dossier, the Clean Energy Wire and various energy and climate experts take a look at what the contested emissions reduction goal means for Germany's reputation, how its coal industry will fare, how a continued renewables expansion can be funded and what else will be at the top of the country's energy transition agenda this year.

Germany's 2020 climate targets are Germany's first major Energiewende policy issue in 2018 - even before a new government has been found. In this dossier, the Clean Energy Wire and various energy and climate experts take a look at what the contested emissions reduction goal means for Germany's reputation, how its coal industry will fare, how a continued renewables expansion can be funded and what else will be at the top of the country's energy transition agenda this year.

Next German government faces urgent coal choice

See what Germany can do to still reach its imperilled 2020 climate target and what else will be on the country's Energiewende agenda in 2018.

Energiewende economist fears for Germany's climate reputation

Find out why researcher Claudia Kemfert is worried about the country's international standing in climate diplomacy here.

WWF calls for German climate policy emergency programme

Read what the WWF's Michael Schäfer suggests Germany could do to still make progress on its 2020 climate targets here.

Researcher says German coal exit would not help climate

Ending coal-fired power production in Germany would do little to achieve global climate protection goals, says energy researcher Manuel Frondel. Read here what he says could be done instead. 

German Energy Agency calls for fixing Energiewende funding

Germany has to fundamentally reconsider the way it funds its energy transition, says Andreas Kuhlmann, head of the German Energy Agency dena. See what he has to propose here.

Energy industry association wants fees & levies reform

Grown structures of the energy transition's fees, surcharges and levies deserve a review, says Robert Busch of the Association of Energy Market Innovators (bne). Find out here which reforms the industry association suggest.

Environment NGO says failing 2020 climate target is no option

If Germany is to honour its pledge to the Paris Climate Agreement, amending the 2020 emissions reduction goal is no possibility, Sebastian Scholz of the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) says here.

Chamber of commerce says industry burdened by power costs

Lower power prices will be a priority for Germany's industrial companies in 2018, Sebastian Bolay of the German Chamber for Commerce and Industry (DIHK) argues here.

Climate activist calls Chancellor Merkel "master of announcements"

Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks a lot about Germany's responsibility to protect the climate but does little to tame her country's appetite for coal, climate expert Tina Löffelsend of NGO BUND says here.

Trade union federation says climate aims need link to labour policy

Climate protection targets need to be consistently linked to goals concerning job security and employment levels, Frederik Moch of the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB). See here

All texts created by the Clean Energy Wire are available under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0)”. They can be copied, shared and made publicly accessible by users so long as they give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

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