German government is so “sluggish, it makes you cry” – op-ed

Germany’s government sits on a big budget surplus, money it should spend on the energy transition and climate protection but it does not, writes Petra Pinzler in a commentary on Zeit Online. The government could use the money to push climate-friendly behaviour through tax and financial policies and show that a transformation to an environmentally friendly economy was possible. “But that’s exactly what they do not do,” Pinzler writes. The government rejected a CO₂ tax, cancelled the planned additional tenders for a faster renewables expansion, and was fighting over the set-up of the commission that should define the path for a coal exit. Instead of investing in climate protection as part of a larger attempt to reduce global conflicts, the government has increased defence spending.

Read the full commentary in German here.