Taking Stock of the Energy and Climate Profile of Germany and the USA: New Potential for Cooperation

Abstract

Germany and the United States are both important players in international energy and climate policy. They are major international donors in the energy sector, they participate in manifold bi- and multilateral cooperation formats in the realm of energy and climate policy and they have historically both been leaders in clean energy technology development. Notwithstanding, they have very different starting conditions for and approaches to energy and climate policy. While the US is nearly energy independent, in Germany, the Russian war against the Ukraine has highlighted the high dependence on energy imports. Yet, Germany has experienced a strong increase in renewable energy production, fostered by strong state regulation, as it is an essential element of its climate policy. In the US, overall, renewable energy production has grown at a slower pace, also because climate policy has faced curvier roads through the past decades, and political conditions have changed often. This article seeks to take stock of where Germany and the US stand at this moment with their energy systems as well as their climate policies and examines common interests and cooperation potentials that can support sustainability transformations on both sides of the Atlantic.