Greens criticise eastern German state’s new coalition for lack of climate ambition

Following parliamentary elections in June, parties in the east German state of Saxony-Anhalt have agreed on a new government coalition, Zeit online reports. Headed by state premier Reiner Haseloff (CDU), the coalition includes the Social Democrats (SPD) and the market-liberal FDP. After long deliberations, the SPD will head the ministry for environment, energy, climate and science while the FDP will be in charge of transport and digitalisation, and the CDU will head the economy and agriculture ministry. The Green Party opposition said the new coalition is putting the brakes on shaping a new climate neutral and sustainable economy in Saxony-Anhalt, criticising that the responsibility for climate, energy and agriculture had been split between ministries.

Saxony-Anhalt is home to one of Germany’s three main coal mining regions and was previously governed by a coalition of CDU, SPD and the Green Party. In the June 2021 election, the conservatives won a clear victory while both SPD and Green Party lost voters and the right-wing populist AfD came second. The state is one of the poorest and its population is older than the national average, making it hard to draw comparisons with the federal level. Whereas climate change is a decisive issue for nearly three-quarters of voters in the whole of the country, the topic was not a top priority for voters in the east German state.