Germany’s Green Recovery

Abstract

The term “green recovery” (German: Grüner Wiederaufbau) describes a two-fold strategy of ecological, economical and social recovery from the double crises of climate change and the COVID pandemic, on the one hand, and the implementation of structural changes to advance a green economic agenda and a social and ecological turnover, on the other. It is a process that aims for a transition to a sustainable, climate neutral and resilient economy and society. Public Dolling indicates that the support for such policies to counter climate change remains high. For instance, the Fridays for Future movement continues to exert strong influence, and in response to a complaint by Sophie Backsen and other young activists, the Federal Constitutional Court in April 2021 issued a verdict that the Climate Change Act of 2019 is partially unconstitutional in regards to assuring intergenerational fairness. To this, the government of Chancellor Merkel has quickly reacted and approved of amendments to the law. The Green Recovery is thus anchored in Germany’s climate protection policies of ending nuclear energy, transition to renewable energies, and changes in traffic, transport and in the agricultural sector. Under the German Presidency of the EU Council in the second half of 2020, Merkel further advanced the European Green Deal (a set of policies initiated by the European Commission in 2019) to include a COVID recovery fund and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF, 2021-27). In addition, the German federal government has decided on a spending program of 130 billion Euros for crisis recovery and future investment (includine international efforts) for 2020-21. Energy change is a project that requires the participation of the citizens and that enjoys vast support in the population. However, since energy change means not only the restructuring of the energy sector but also involves traffic, architecture, business and work environments, and reaches down to many aspects of one’s personal life, the various policies in different areas need to be coordinated in order to ascertain longterm sustainability.