“The country of the Energiewende fails at climate protection”

Germany’s efforts to protect the climate by reducing its CO₂ emissions have largely been in vain because the country falls short of implementing a much needed coal phase-out, Petra Pinzler writes in weekly newspaper Die Zeit. “The country of the Energiewende fails at climate protection,” Pinzler writes, explaining that Germany’s dual challenge of decarbonising energy generation and exiting nuclear power can only succeed if the country increases its use of gas-fired power production. Instead of curbing emissions from some of Europe’s dirtiest coal plants resting on German soil, the government advocates for laxer emissions limits in Brussels, Pinzler writes. The decision by lignite mine operator LEAG to stop expanding its mines in eastern Germany gives reason for confidence that tides are turning for German coal. But most importantly German citizens had to change their daily routines and standards for travelling, living and consuming in order to effectively curb climate change, she argues.

See the CLEW dossier The energy transition and climate change for background.