Environment minister: Germany must keep on climate course

Behind the wheel of a huge but almost silent truck, Germany's new environment minister Carsten Schneider, pulls over at the side of an industrial road. It's an apt end to a tour of the Daimler Truck facility in southern Germany from a minister who intends to steer climate change policy in Europe's biggest economy with quiet purpose.

Clambering out of the truck's cab, he turns to greet company executives and grins.

"It was fun," he says.

His time at Daimler is part of the annual summer trip traditionally taken by Germany's environment ministers to visit people, projects and companies working to protect the climate. It's also one of Schneider's first official visits since taking office in May.

Daimler representatives tell him they are moving towards a sustainable future, but that the shift away from polluting fossil fuels is costly. Though employees praise the trucks as being less prone to needing repairs and more relaxing to drive, manufacturing them costs more than double that of their diesel counterparts. 

"The climate target for 2025 remains unchanged"

Since becoming environment minister in Germany's coalition government of the center-right Christian Democrat Union (CDU) / Christian Social Union (CSU) and center-left Social Democrats (SPD), Schneider has been working to find his feet.

A career politician, the 49-year-old Social Democrat has little to no prior experience working on policies around environment, climate action, nature conservation and nuclear safety. As such, some saw him as a surprising pick for the post. But he is clear that climate protection remains an absolute priority for the new administration.

"The government has a clear mandate under the Basic Law: to make Germany climate neutral by 2045. That is also our responsibility to society, and I feel committed to it. But so do my other colleagues," he told DW.

Resistance to climate protection

Yet some observers have been left with a different impression. Under the last government, climate action was, at least in part, treated as an economic and international issue, officially under the auspices of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, led by Green party politician Robert Habeck. International climate policy was largely led by the foreign ministry.

The new government has returned climate competence to the environment ministry, making Schneider responsible for both domestic and international policy. Experts have warned that the decision could reignite conflict between the environment and economic ministries.

Echoing statements from CDU Chancellor Friedrich Merz, his conservative minister of economics Katherina Reiche has suggested that the country's 2045 climate target will be hard to achieve. She wants to revive the sluggish economy, free it from overly expensive climate regulations and build new gas-fired power plants. 

Merz, meanwhile, has indicated that he does not see the need for Germany to abandon fossil fuels in a hurry.

"Germany makes up 2% of global emissions," Merz recently told colleagues in the German parliament. "So even if we became climate-neutral overnight, it would not prevent a single extreme weather event."

A quietly confident approach

Schneider, however, refuses to be discouraged. He acknowledges Germany's role in climate change and its duty towards lowering emissions.

"The international community must stand together, recognizing that we, as those who have emitted a large proportion of the CO2 emissions over the past 200 years, also have a responsibility towards the countries that are particularly affected by climate change, and we must link that through discourse," he said.

 

He clearly wants to work calmly and behind the scenes, including to strengthen ties with large emitting countries like China and India.

"In the run up to the UN [COP climate] conference in Belem, I need these countries. We will sit down with them at the table in a very open manner," Schneider told reporters.

Domestically, he says recent years have seen a highly politicized debate that has made climate a red rag for some and that it is now time for "decisions that go in the right direction, not discussions that lead nowhere."

Climate fatigue within German society

But many in Germany are more worried about societal polarization, the economy and the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine than about climate. And German companies have long-been concerned about overly ambitious climate plans. 

Schneider's official visit to those working towards a climate-neutral Germany also takes him to a vineyard in Bad Dürkheim near the German city of Mannheim. There, he meets Egon Schmitt, a winemaker who also cares about biodiversity and is looking for better ways to manage water use.   

And at the chemical giant BASF in Ludwigshafen he talks to CEO Markus Kamieth about how the company is exploring ways to reduce its dependence on gas ― one of the fossil fuels causing rising temperatures.

An experienced operator with an East German background

Schneider's political background might not be in climate or environment, but he is a very experienced parliamentarian.

A member of the German parliament, the Bundestag, since 1998, he is considered a skilled string-puller. He was minister of state in the Chancellery under Merz's predecessor, SPD politician Olaf Scholz, and the former government's representative for eastern Germany.

And he believes in making climate protection fair. Earlier this year, the new government, together with the outgoing Green party, decided to make available a substantial package of €500 billion financed by loans over the next few years. 

Schneider wants to make sure the €100 billion earmarked for climate protection are distributed fairly.

"Are we really supporting the people who need it most? Single parents with two children, for example, who can't even afford a week of holiday once a year?" he told DW. "My task is to keep society on board." 

This article was first published in German and has been added to for this version.