Germany was long a leader on climate protection, but in recent years has slipped in its efforts to combat carbon emissions. These days, the government is finding it tough to even unite on a climate protection law.
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When it comes to climate protection, politicians from Germany's governing coalition parties — Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their sister party, the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), along with the Social Democrats (SPD) — have lately been in a tizzy. Just recently, Minister of the Environment Svenja Schulze (SPD) presented a first draft of a climate protection act to be adopted by September, or so hoped those involved. And already there is trouble.
"We stand for climate protection, but we want to make it reasonable," said CDU parliamentary party leader Ralph Brinkhaus. "We have to do this together with the people in this country and not from above through prohibitions and regulations."
'Fridays for the Future': Students rally for the climate
Across the globe, thousands of students have joined the climate movement inspired by Swedish student Greta Thunberg. Demonstrations have been held across Europe, in Japan, and even in Australia.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
A global movement
The school strike for climate or "Fridays for the Future" movement was inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. The movement calls on students to skip school on Fridays and attend demonstrations calling for climate change action. Rallies have been held in countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Japan, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
The inspiration
Thunberg held her first demonstration in August 2018 outside the Swedish parliament building. She has since become the face of the "Fridays for the Future" movement. In January, 16-year-old Thunberg was invited to talk at the World Economic Forum in Davos where she told business and political leaders: "I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day."
Image: picture-alliance/DPR/H. Franzen
'This is not about me'
Thunberg has joined students at a number of protests, including in Brussels, Paris, Antwerp and most recently in Hamburg in northern Germany. "I think there is a lot of focus on me as an individual and not on the climate itself," Thunberg told DW. "I think we should focus more on the climate issue because this is not about me ... this is about the climate crisis."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Reinhardt
Thousands march
Some of the biggest protests have been held in Belgium, with thousands of students taking to the streets in Antwerp and Brussels. Students there have been consistently holding protests every week since the start of 2019.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Waem
Protests reach Australia
While most of the protests have been held across Europe, the movement has reached as far as Australia, where climate change demonstrations are not uncommon. Australians are particularly concerned about issues surrounding coal mining and the pollution of oceans.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/D. Himbrechts
Parents join the kids
Across the UK, thousands of university students, teenagers and even primary school children have joined the protests. Some parents have taken the time to accompany their young children to the demonstrations to ensure they don't miss out on having their voices heard.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS.com/A. Rodenas
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Merkel's own party dragging feet on climate initiatives
What happened? Schulze's proposal provides for all relevant government agencies to put forward their own ideas on how to achieve a whopping 55 percent reduction in greenhouse gases in their respective sectors by 2030 — in a legally binding way. To date, each successive German government has simply promised an across-the-board reduction in emissions.
Though that method worked fairly well as a motivator for many years, that's no longer the case. The goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 40 percent by 2020 won't be reached. Now, sectors that have so far contributed little to climate protection in Germany, such as transport, are being called on to deliver. But German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) fears overly strict conditions for motorists and industry. And many of his fellow party MPs are with him.
Twelve years ago, at the beginning of Angela Merkel's (CDU) chancellorship, things were different. Germany organized the G7 summit in Heiligendamm; climate protection was the most important topic.
"If you look at the development of greenhouse gas emissions, ten years ago, Germany was actually a pioneer in climate protection and the world's ‘one-eyed blind man,'" said Christoph Bals, climate expert for the Germanwatch environmental group.
These days, no one speaks in terms of there being a leader in reducing emissions, which have either stagnated in recent years or even slightly increased.
"It's as if they've only just found out we need to do something like climate protection. I don't know what kind of world they've been living in, and whether they've been watching news in recent years," Green Party leader Robert Habeck said, adding that [politicians] have to start putting their money where their mouths are.
Climate protection law part of coalition government deal
The power-sharing agreement struck in early 2018 by the CDU/CSU and the SPD set out passing climate protection law as a goal of Merkel's current government, stating the government's intention "to pass a law that ensures compliance with the 2030 climate protection goals."
This time, the government reportedly wants to ensure that compliance with the climate goal is binding. So Environment Minister Schulze is pressing on with her efforts, which would imply emissions cuts in industries including manufacturing, transportation and agriculture as well as the modernization of buildings as a way of saving heating energy.
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Afraid of painful steps
But implementation is causing great difficulties for the governing parties. For Christoph Bals of Germanwatch, this explains why German climate policy has lost considerable momentum. For many years, the government has been dealing with more popular goals, such as the expansion of renewable energies. To get ahead now, painful steps will be needed: Restrictions on motorists, and phasing out coal power, for example.
Many politicians "don't dare tackle the serious structural change issues in the coal, transportation, building, agriculture and manufacturing sectors," Bals told DW.
Only a few weeks ago, a commission set up for that purpose officially recommended withdrawing from dependence on coal energy — but not until 2038, which many climate experts consider much too late.
Environment Minister Schulze had a lot to answer for at COP24 in KatowiceImage: DW/M. Koschyk
Financial penalties for noncompliance possible
At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland (COP24) last December, Germany was already coming under significant pressure. The internationally renowned climate researcher Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber, head of the Climate Impact Research Institute in Potsdam, could barely contain his fury towards the Germans: "The deficit is insane. Not a single state is doing enough. We are just slamming this planet up against a wall!"
However, in an interview with DW, the environment minister defended Germany's climate progress from detractors: "We are the only industrialized country that has both abandoned nuclear power and announced a coal phaseout — and already relies on renewable sources for a third of its energy needs."
Germany being a manufacturing country, Schulze said, makes these achievements all the more noteworthy.
But the minister also acknowledged that these successes are the results of past action. She now wants to ensure that Germany — which as an EU member state committed itself to the bloc's environmental protection goals — will avoid having to pay fines if it does not achieve them. That could come to pass within a year — and be a major fall from grace for the former climate pioneer.
Climate change hits the Bavarian Alps
The mountains are warming twice as fast as the global average. But what impact is this having on senstive Alpine regions in Germany?
A golden cross sits on top of Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze, located in the Ammergauer Alps. This part of the Alps, and the mountain itself, are a big draw for visitors eager to ski, hike, climb or just cruise to the top in a cable car to have some food or a beer. But the mountains are feeling the impact of a warming world — at an alarming rate.
It's September and unusually warm. So warm that some people wear shorts and T-shirts as they stop off to eat and explore the glacier plateau before heading for the summit. Thirty years ago, it would have been much colder here. Since 1985, there's been a warming of around 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit). In the Alps, temperatures are rising twice as fast as the global average.
Image: DW/J. Collins
Melting glaciers
Increased temperatures mean receding glaciers. Michael Krautblatter, pictured at the Schneefernerhaus environmental research station with the remnants of one of the Zugspitze's glaciers behind him, says "it's just a matter of time before they disappear." The professor of landslide research at Munich's Technical University (TUM) has been studying the mountain's ice for 10 years.
Image: DW/J. Collins
The science bit
Krautblatter and his team use specialized equipment to measure the Zugspitze's ice and permafrost — a layer of permanently frozen sediment, rock or soil. They place electrodes inside the rocks to measure electrical conductivity. If it's no longer frozen, conductivity is good. The work sometimes involves the researchers scaling the mountain face. The permafrost is disappearing too, they say.
Image: DW/J. Collins
Losing stability
That's bad news, largely because permafrost helps to stabilize the mountain rock. Over the past year, around a thousand rockfalls have been reported, says Krautblatter. Some popular hiking routes have already been closed and a dozen or so Alpine huts are subsiding. It could also be a problem for cable cars, because they are anchored in the rocks on the mountainside.
Image: DW/J. Collins
A family tradition
Scientists aren't the only ones who've witnessed the changes. Toni Zwinger is 33 years old and works at the inn run by his family near the summit. He grew up on the mountain and as a child the glaciers were his playground. He says the glacier is much smaller, the winters are warmer and he hears the rocks shifting outside in the evening when the tourists have gone and the mountain is quiet.
Image: DW/J. Collins
Münchner Haus
The Münchner Haus opened in 1897 and the Zwinger family has been running it since 1925 — back when it could only be reached by climbers. It's a traditional Alpine hut in which people can stay overnight. Those people can now easily ascend the mountain by train and cable car. That's increased the number of visitors to the peak exponentially.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
Uncertain future
Even if, as set out in the Paris Agreement, the world manages to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, that would represent warming of around 4 degrees in the Alps. That means less snow, more rain, changing vegetation and no glaciers. It could also mean that visitors will no longer be able to enjoy a beer or hot chocolate at the century-old Münchner Haus.
