Germany’s Energy and Climate Policy: Secure and Sustainable?

This episode looks at how Germany long ignored the strategic and geopolitical implications of its energy policy. Whether it was the Russian gas of the past, the Qatari gas Germany has now replaced it with, or German dependence on China for many of the materials it needs for its transition to renewable energy - heating and powering Germany has long been dependent on authoritarian regimes that even pose a security threat to the country and its stated values. Meanwhile, the need to quickly replace Russian energy – on the back of its longer-standing decision to ditch nuclear power - has seen Germany turn to coal, jeopardizing its climate commitments. All of this has also affected Germany’s allies and so we look at the hard choices Berlin now has to make on energy – for both national security and the climate.