Germany's future is Green

The German Green party has moved beyond the Birkenstock generation to prove itself on the biggest stage

Cem Özdemir guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 March 2011 22.00 GMT
'It's not that easy being green," Kermit the frog once sang. Conservatives have tradition, social democrats the welfare state and liberals boundless individualism. But the Greens have little to offer besides dialogue, strain and responsibility. So what is going on in Germany? In 2009's national elections, the Greens reached an all-time high with 10.7%, and are currently getting ratings of between 15% and 25% in the polls. This minority coalition partner is now competing for top spot in such completely different states as Berlin, the traditionally leftist (and bankrupt) capital in the north-east, and the conservative economic powerhouse Baden-Württemberg in the south-west.

The threat of nuclear disaster in Japan has moved the issue of nuclear power right back to the top of the agenda. Even Angela Merkel has admitted that the calamity of Fukishima Daiichi is "a turning point for the world". Her government's nuclear record is damning: it decided to delay a nuclear energy phaseout negotiated by the Greens, in order to line the pockets of the big four energy suppliers. We are opposing this "phaseout of the phaseout" because it is written on our birth certificate that we are against nuclear energy.

But the Greens' success is the result of a wider shift in the German mentality. The country has begun to shed its fear of change: gone is the belief that in the end the Deutsche mark, Helmut Kohl and the church do it best. Confidence in political parties and democratic institutions is diminishing, and turnout at elections, though high in comparison to other democracies, is shrinking.

This does not mean people are ignorant. On the contrary, they want to get involved. They demand direct participation, especially when it comes to huge infrastructure projects such as Stuttgart 21, the city's old railway station going underground at a cost of €8bn. People give the Greens credit for bottom-up politics, transparency and an immunity to cronyism, and research shows the party has won over many non-voters.

Under the technocratic rule of Chancellor Merkel, the conservative CDU has failed to become a modern, urban, more female party. The Greens have capitalised, attracting voters who would probably not have supported the "Birkenstock Greens" of 20 years ago. Where the Greens have learned to balance ideals and pragmatism, Merkel's CDU has neglected its own values and failed to offer the country direction. Merkel may be the queen of small steps – but the Green party is the princess of the future.

The Greens have also profited from the disastrous strategy of the Social Democrats to cling to the "third way politics" beloved of Gerhard Schröder. Millions of voters have deserted the party, with the young and progressive coming over to the Greens or none. We have also benefited from demographic change: as well as young voters, we can now draw on an older voter base, as the over-70s turn their backs on other parties.

Time is on the side of the green movement. Environmental awareness is growing. Green has become a conscious lifestyle choice – eating organic food, using public transport, buying energy from renewables, consuming from small shops, ethical banking in ethical banks.

Last year, the German Greens celebrated their 30th birthday. It is worth reminding people of the extent to which the party has influenced public opinion in those three decades. Founded above all as an anti-nuclear party, the Greens have helped to generate a new consensus about gender balance, party democracy, renewable energy, genetically modified food, consumer rights and new family models.

But the Greens have also changed. Starting as a heterogeneous bunch of idealistic non-parliamentarians, they have become a solid parliamentary force and a responsible partner in government coalitions.

In the past, surveys show, people liked the Greens but didn't vote for them because they feared the party wouldn't have the brain and muscle to run the country. This perception has changed over the last few years. The key to understanding our growth is Nicholas Stern's simple rationale: getting green will be costly, but not getting green will cause a collapse.

The German Greens realised early on that the economy is both the problem and the solution – and therefore can get green and grow. Stern, who led the UN review on the economics of climate change, the Nobel prizewinning economist Paul Krugman and others have made it clear that you must get green to grow – hence the German Greens' call for a "Green New Deal" to transform the financial sector, economy, labour market and sustainability.

"Green is the new red, white and blue," the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote in 2007. The movement's values are relevant to everyone. Smaller Green parties, like America's, can find this overwhelming. Here in Germany, however, the Greens are prepared to take on bigger responsibilities.

Solar power industry set to lock horns with state

By Sarah Arnott
Monday, 14 March 2011

Britain's fledgling solar power industry is gearing up for a fight over the Government's review of the solar subsidies scheme.


The consultation setting out how the Government proposes to change the "feed-in tariff" (FIT) system for solar arrays producing 50 kilowatts (kW) or more of power could be published as early as this week. And green energy companies and pressure groups are expecting bad news.

The review was announced by the Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, last month. The Government says the plan to cut subsidies for large-scale solar installations will avoid commercial "farms" hogging funding and squeezing out the domestic market for which the support was intended. But solar experts say the analysis is faulty – that there are barely any plans for commercial-scale "farms", that the 50kW ceiling also catches out community projects such as hospitals and housing associations, and that the lack of support from government will put the brakes on much-needed investment.

More serious still is the charge that the Department of Energy and Climate Change does not understand the economics of solar power and does not have the expertise for a valid analysis of the market.

"We are getting ready for a major fight," said one industry insider. "The Government is fundamentally wrong about the technology and they haven't understood it."

The lower bands of the FIT subsidy system – applying to solar generating capacity of up to 4kW, 4kW of domestic PV and 4 to 10 kW – will be assessed in a second, so-called "comprehensive review" further in the future. But the re-evaluation of the subsidies for 50kW and above is to be pushed through in time for changes to be applied this summer. Currently, the FIT pays out 31p per kW/hr in the 10 to 100kW band, and 29p per kW/hr in the 100kW to 5 megawatt band.

Last week a solar industry campaign warned that 30,000 green jobs are under threat from the cuts to the FIT. Jeremy Leggett, executive chairman of Solarcentury, said: "It beggars belief that a government elected on a promise of being the 'greenest ever' should be rushing to cut the solar PV tariff and kill off one of its very few employment success stories."