Climate leader or hypocrite? Germany’s green record under the microscope as Cop26 approaches

Germany’s leading activist Luisa Neubauer tells Erik Kirschbaum that there is an ‘enormous gap between who we are and who we think we are’ when it comes to the country’s climate record

Steam coming from the chimneys of the coal-fired power station in Niederaussem, Germany (AP)

Germany likes to fancy itself as a global leader in the fight against climate change, and seldom hesitates to wag a finger at other leading industrial countries – such as China and the United States – for being laggards when it comes to making meaningful cuts in CO2 emissions.

But the reality is that Germany’s own efforts to stop the climate crisis fail to match the soaring rhetoric, and, more importantly, fall short of what scientists say is needed to avert the worst – even though some relatively easy changes, such as introducing a speed limit on its high-speed motorways, could have an immediate impact on reducing the country’s emissions. 

Germany, the world’s fourth-largest economy, is also the world’s sixth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases.