“German climate policy – better than its image” – op-ed

Germany is constantly worried that it might lose its image of climate protection pioneer, which appears to be a legitimate fear due to its stalling performance in CO₂ emissions reduction and sluggish renewable energy expansion, Axel Bojanowski writes in an op-ed on Spiegel Online. But these worries are only partially founded as the country continues to be a driving force behind international climate protection efforts, and a “dominant” negotiating partner at the UN Climate Conference (COP23) in Bonn, he argues. “No country has better connections, no one enjoys greater confidence”, all backed by “a solid billion-dollar budget” for climate diplomats to push the agenda, Bojanowski says. Germany may invest a lot of taxpayers’ money abroad to mitigate climate change consequences, but this money “also paves the way for German companies and for pursuing strategic policy interests”, he writes. However, the climate “success story” also has a flipside: critics of Germany’s climate policy and its Energiewende within the administration were often silenced.

Read the opinion piece in German here.