“Is German climate leadership being sacrificed on the altar of coal?”

No matter who will govern Germany after this week’s election, a coalition agreement that does not include a commitment to address a phase-out of coal-fired power production “would be a bad sign”, Julian Schwartzkopff writes on euractiv.com. The technology that still accounts for a third of German emissions begs the likely new and old Chancellor Angela Merkel to act in order not to risk undermining “German climate leadership at a time when it is needed most”, the researcher at climate think tank E3G writes.

In a separate paper, E3G examines five different outcomes of the election and their ramifications for the future of coal in the country. Assuming that Merkel stays at the helm of German politics, the colour-code of the next coalition “will greatly influence German climate and energy policy over the next four years”, the paper says.

Read the article in English here and the E3G paper in English here.

See the CLEW article German election to define speed and shape of energy transition and the CLEW factsheet When will Germany finally ditch coal? for more information.