Coalition agreement “fragmented and incoherent” on climate and energy policy – consultancy

Swiss consultancy Prognos has published a detailed and highly sceptical assessment of the coalition agreement between the conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democrats (SPD), including analyses of the effects on climate, energy, transport and regional policy. Prognos says climate and energy policy plans “appear fragmented and incoherent” with aspects of energy transition policy scattered across various sections of the coalition agreement. The consultancy concedes that “many important topics have been touched” on in the paper, but central issues like Germany’s phase-out of coal-fired power production were buried in the section on climate and fall short of giving crucial details. The same goes for construction and the transport sector, Prognos says. Another shortcoming is the failure to highlight “that the implementation of climate and efficiency measures has to be accelerated” if Germany is to honour its climate action pledges, the consultancy argues. The coalition treaty also failed to address sensitive issues concerning fundamental economic changes, such as the structural change awaiting coal mining regions or the end of fossil fuels in transport. To avoid addressing these “ruptures” due to “fears over difficult negotiations is not helpful.” The treaty is often “marked by resounding silence” on the decarbonisation of industrial processes and is “strangely vague and short” on energy efficiency. Prognos energy policy expert Almut Kirchner says “substantial changes and effective tools will be necessary in almost all areas of the energy system if the climate targets are to be met. There are no simple solutions in sight and they should not be anticipated.”

Find the analysis on climate and energy policy in German here and further analyses on transport and regional policy (in coal regions) in German here.

Find a CLEW factsheet on the coalition agreement here.