Climate protection, energy security, and Germany’s policy of ecological modernisation

The interplay between climate protection and energy security issues in Germany is examined using an ecological modernisation (EM) framework. The central concerns are with the country’s policy response to energy security and climate problems, and how this shapes Germany’s international aspirations. Since Germany’s conventional energy mix is simultaneously ‘dirty’ and import intensive, the answer to both challenges lies in ‘greening’ the energy system, i.e. reducing demand through energy efficiency and basing energy supply on domestically available renewables. Thus, energy security goes hand in hand with climate protection. As for Germany’s international aspirations, energy transformation is economically and ecologically feasible only if accompanied by comparable efforts internationally. Besides helping climate protection, international eco-policies lead to an economic level playing field so that (energy-intensive) losers have less reason to resist EM and environmental industries benefit. Germany, therefore, remains a strong proponent of international climate policies.