Germany has gambled away its energy transition lead

Germany’s Energiewende successes lie in the past and it’s time to put the transition on a new footing, Jakob Schlandt writes in a leading article in Der Tagesspiegel. Greenhouse gas emissions have stagnated for years, and “little or nothing has happened in the transport and building sectors”. The Netherlands shows how it’s done by heavily taxing large cars, Denmark by prohibiting the installation of new oil and gas heaters. “Of course, that costs and hurts. But the Energiewende will not happen if one rigidly clings to old habits,” Schlandt writes. The next federal government must put the transition back on track. “From a success story to a major project in distress – and back,” is all we can hope for, Schlandt writes.

For background, read CLEW’s Germany's Energiewende: The Easy Guide and the dossier The next German government and the energy transition.