The Glass is Half Full: Environmental and Climate Policy of the Last Merkel Government Between Protest and Pandemic

Abstract

ABSTRACT A number of situational events had an impact on the environmental and climate policy of the last Merkel government. The drought in the summer of 2018, the flood disaster of 2021, the climate protests of Fridays for Future throughout 2019 and also the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on the Climate Protection Act of 2021 generated a great deal of attention for environmental and, above all, climate policy. On the contrary, the COVID 19 pandemic since March 2020 diverted public attention from environmental issues. All in all, however, the processes can largely be characterised as ‘business as usual’ – with the usual conflicts of partisan, departmental, and interest politics, and an overall impact of EU policies. In terms of the policy results, the glass seems more ‘half full’ than ‘half empty’. Some progress was made on insect protection and the circular economy, and the coal phase-out was finally initiated. In climate policy, however, there is still a gap in implementation despite clear progress, and there is also what can best be described as an ambition gap. Other issues remain to be fixed, for example in wind energy, animal welfare, and moorland protection.