The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, appeared at the UN COP28 in Dubai with a supposedly stellar launch, the Climate Club, an international group – so far there are 36 countries, including Spain – to support the decarbonization of industries where it is especially difficult to reduce emissions, such as steel, cement and aluminum, within the general objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The club – a plan that Scholz already aired during the German presidency of the G-7 last year – will study also technical and financial instruments of the public and private sector, which “will not only send much-needed investment signals to our national industries but will also provide guidance to other countries,” said social democrat Scholz.
However, experts are not clear about the benefits for the climate of a select club of presumed virtuous people in which, to begin with, China and India do not appear, although the United States does, to name the three largest emitters of polluting gases ( In 2021 they accounted for 52% of global CO2 emissions).
Germany also surprised by promising, together with the host country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to each deliver one hundred million dollars (92 million euros) to the fund created last year to compensate for damages and losses due to climate change in countries. particularly vulnerable. In addition, the social democrat Scholz called for tripling the expansion of renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency, both goals in 2030, but remained significantly cautious regarding fossil fuels, a reservation that is not surprising.
The country’s green reputation is faltering despite the millions for international cooperation and initiatives, because in Germany itself, the expectations generated by the arrival to power two years ago of environmentalists as partners in the tripartite government with social democrats and liberals are being diluted. The energy crisis resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which meant that Germany was cut off from Russian gas at a good price, on which it was highly dependent, forced it to look for new supplies.
And although in theory this framework promotes the use of renewables, in practice, and also due to the nuclear blackout decided in the Merkel era, it has led to extending the life of some coal plants to generate electricity. The high price of electricity has become distressing for large industries that, like chemicals, make intensive use of it, and the Government has had to provide public subsidies to prevent such companies from relocating production to countries with cheaper electricity.
A recent ruling by the Constitutional Court, adverse to the Government, due to a technical issue of constitutional brake on debt and relocation of budget funds – an item for the economic impact of the covid of 2021 was assigned to climate and transformation in 2022 so not in accordance with the law – is now also delaying some green projects in Germany, at least until the governing coalition reorganizes the general budgets.