Environment & Sustainability

A conversation with Dr. David Dunetz about his fellowship experience and the importance of sustained international exchange of knowledge in policy debates, and especially in addressing the crises of climate and democracy in the 21st century.

Policy makers in Germany are increasingly aware that the transformation towards a circular economy is a crucial necessity: From an environmental point of view, the Paris climate targets will only be achievable by drastically increasing the circularity of the German economy. At the same time, Germany’s future competitiveness will depend on new circular business models that offer results and services instead of simple products.

Germany has ambitious targets to drastically cut its greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years and to achieve climate neutrality by 2045. This Spotlight takes a closer look at the German government’s plans announced so far to move forward the Energiewende, a task that has become even more urgent in light of the fossil fuel price increases and security of supply concerns that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“Energiewende” (German for “energy transition”) is the term used in Germany to describe the country’s efforts to transition away from an energy system dominated by fossil and nuclear fuels towards an efficient and sustainable energy system based predominantly or entirely on renewable energy sources. This text provides an overview of the “Energiewende”, whose roots can be traced back to the first large protests in Germany against the use of nuclear power in the 1970s.  

As Germany has few natural resources, energy efficiency helps its industry to lower energy costs and reduce dependency on countries that export fossil energy. Also the long-term goal of reaching 100% renewable energy produced in Germany can only be met if energy efficiency is optimized.

One of the most influential European practice schemes to support energy efficiency investments in the building sector with public funds, was developed jointly by the German government with the KfW bank in 2006. Notwithstanding the program's scale, the annual renovation rate is still only around 1%, while around 3% is needed for a decarbonization of the building stock by 2045.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) allow energy consumption of buildings to be compared, turning their energy efficiency into a selling argument when selling or renting out a building. This analysis looks at the status of EPCs in Germany.

The staggering amount of waste generated by the disposable fashion model has become a major problem over the years. Newer business models utilize systems thinking and aim to move away from a linear system and towards a closed loop scenario.

The fashion industry’s status as one of the most polluting industries is no longer news. Nevertheless, it is still far from becoming sustainable, producing tons of textile waste every year on a global scale with less than 1% of clothing being recycled.