Climate Retreat In Germany?
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“The End of Germany’s Climate Crusade.” That’s how a Politico headline last week described the country’s national elections held this past Sunday. The election was still days away, but opinion polls had already made clear that “one of the world’s most climate-ambitious governments will fall,” Karl Mathiesen wrote.
Sure enough, the center-left Social Democratic party (SPD), which has held Germany’s chancellorship since 2021, was voted out. Germany’s next government will be led by Friedrich Merz, whose center-right Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union alliance (CDU/CSU) won 28.6% of the vote. Merz hasn’t publicly rejected his country’s pledge to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions, but he has harshly criticized wind turbines, other alternatives to fossil fuels, and green policies in general. Placing second in the elections, with 20.8% of the vote, was Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), a hard-right party that outright denies climate change.
As the world’s third biggest economy and the European Union’s dominant power, Germany wields outsized global influence. Under center-left and center-right governments alike, its policies have cut greenhouse gas emissions by 46%, compared to 1990 levels. Renewable energy accounts for 55% of its electricity. It has supported the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degrees-Celsius temperature rise target and the provision of climate aid to poor countries. The German election therefore also holds major implications for international climate progress, including at the crucial COP30 summit in Brazil this November.
With immigration and a stagnant economy dominating Germany’s campaign discourse, most news coverage mirrored the candidates’ climate silence. “Climate protection has taken a back seat, despite frequent reports of storms and flood disasters linked to climate change,” Jens Thurau reported for Deutsche Welle.
Ajit Niranjan wrote in the Guardian that climate was only mentioned “when right-leaning parties used it to swipe at [the Green party, a coalition partner to the SPD]. … In a fiery speech the day before the election, Merz said he would do politics ‘for the majority who can think straight … and not for any green and leftwing nutcases.’” Officially, the CDU/CSU backs Germany’s commitment to achieve “climate neutrality” by 2045. But the CDU/CSU has “increasingly aped the AfD’s opposition to policies to get there,” Niranjan added.
Mathiesen reported in Politico: “Merz’s message is that green policy has gone too far. … Moving forward, efforts to tackle global warming will be ‘subordinate’ to economic growth, Merz said.”
Yet climate action remains popular with most Germans. Climate is “in the top four (issues) consistently of all voters across parties,” analyst Linda Kalcher told the Associated Press. In this vein, the activist Luisa Neubauer replied wryly on social media to a CDU campaign slogan — “Doing what the majority wants” —?with a list of policies popular in Germany, including a faster clean energy transition, subsidies for mass transit, and more protection against heat waves.
From Us
Prep Your Climate Coverage: Spring Weather. Last week, CCNow and Climate Central put on the first session of a new webinar series that will prepare North American journalists to cover severe seasonal weather. The session covered unseasonable temperatures, tornadoes, hail, and more. Watch a recording.
Free access to AFP climate news feed. CCNow and Agence France-Presse are partnering to offer media outlets from Latin America, Africa, and Asia free access to approximately 150 ready-to-publish articles every month, complete with photos, videos, or infographics. Apply before March 11.
Power & Progress newsletter. The latest edition of our biweekly newsletter for local journalists examines the momentum of the global clean energy transition, which is substantial even despite the resurgence of governments pledging themselves to fossil fuels. Check out the Power & Progress archive and sign up to get it every other Tuesday.
Noteworthy Stories
It’s gonna cost you. Buried in Donald Trump’s first-day executive order “Unleashing American Energy” is a directive to eliminate a measure called the “social cost of carbon,” which establishes a price per ton of carbon emissions and, in turn, helps the government balance the damage caused by climate change with the burden of regulations. The effect of abandoning this measure will be to transfer the expense of climate change away from the government and companies and towards individual Americans. By Abrahm Lustgarten for ProPublica…
Sowing bad seed. Farmers across the US are being left high and dry by the Department of Agriculture, against the backdrop of Trump’s sweeping federal funding freeze. Initiatives involving conservation, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and more are at risk, as are the farmers whose small businesses have reoriented to take advantage of such initiatives. As the National Farmers Union president puts it, “Freezing spending and making sweeping decisions without congressional oversight just adds more uncertainty to an already tough farm economy.” By Lisa Held for Civil Eats…
Mentiras y verdades. Climate disinformation efforts have made a special target of US Latino communities, “exploit[ing] our fears of job loss, economic instability, and general distrust in institutions,” says Juan Pablo Alvarado of the advocacy group GreenLatinos. In a Q&A, Alvarado and James Hadgis of the Gas Leaks Project describe common myths and efforts to debunk those lies and misperceptions. By Mariana Rebua Simoes for City Limits…
Rainforest for sale. The Brazilian government has announced the auction of 68 oil blocks in the Amazon region, with fossil fuel majors like Shell and ExxonMobil among the likely bidders. The move has prompted public outcry, given the proximity of the blocks to both Indigenous communities and sensitive ecology — and it has called into question the Brazilian government’s commitment to its own climate promises. By Fábio Bispo for Brazil’s InfoAmazonia…
“A rock and a hard place.” Eighteen African countries are partnering to launch the Africa Energy Bank, which will fund new oil and gas projects across the continent. Those backing the effort point to the necessity for growth at a time when millions of Africans lack access to electricity. But experts and climate activists are warning about doubling down on fossil fuels, with climate change taking a harsh toll. By Alexander Kozul-Wright for Al Jazeera…
Resources, Events, Etc.
Indian climate opinion. The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication has released a Factsheets tool that will help journalists explore how climate opinions in India differ across regions — providing, in the Yale Program’s words, “a deeper look into beliefs, risk perceptions, and policy preferences across India’s diverse cultures, languages, and geographies.”
COP16 outcomes webinar. On March 3 at 3pm GMT (10am US Eastern Time), Carbon Brief ’s food, land, and nature journalists will host a webinar “to discuss the key outcomes of the resumed session of the COP16 UN biodiversity talks,” which resumed this week in Rome after faltering last year in Cali, Colombia. Learn more and register.
The future of global climate action. On March 6 at 4pm Singapore Standard Time (8am GMT), the National University of Singapore will host a webinar, “Post COP29 and the Future of Global Climate Action,” discussing the impact of the US’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement (and broader retreat from the climate space in general) and what this shake up means for global climate action, as some countries follow suit with the US and others struggle to pick up its slack. Learn more and register.
Jobs, Opportunities, Etc.
National outlets. Reuters is hiring a US automotive editor (Ann Arbor, Mich.). The AP is hiring a “climate choices” reporter (any US city) and two climate social video producers (one in New York and one in New York, D.C., or LA). The New York Times’s Wirecutter is hiring an emergency preparedness staff writer (New York). The Washington Post’s WP Intelligence corporate service is hiring a climate and energy lead analyst/reporter (D.C.).
Local outlets. The Minnesota Star Tribune is hiring a politics & government editor (Minneapolis). The Idaho Statesman is hiring a state politics & investigative reporter (Boise). VTDigger is hiring an environmental reporter, who will also instruct the University of Vermont’s Community News Service. WBUR Boston is hiring a City Hall reporter. The Seattle Times is hiring a government and politics editor.
Internships, etc. Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy is accepting applications for its 2025 Energy Journalism Fellows program, an in-person program in New York that will take place from June 10-13 (apply by March 3). Scientific American is hiring a news intern and a graphics intern (both New York, apply by March 21).
The Indigenous Journalists Association is accepting entries for the Indigenous Media Awards, which honor “outstanding coverage of Indigenous communities” by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous journalists. The deadline for entries is March 7. Learn more and enter.
The International Women’s Media Foundation is accepting entries for the 2025 Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, for women and non-binary photojournalists “who inspire us to take action and better understand the world.” The deadline for entries is March 15. Learn more and enter.
The USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism is accepting applications for grants, between $2,000 and $10,000, to support “ambitious investigative or explanatory projects on systemic racism in public health, health care policy and the practice of medicine.” The deadline is March 26. Learn more and apply.
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