“There seems to be no clarity about the targets of the Energiewende,” says author Fabian Joas, a political scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Resarch (PIK) and at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC). While most interviewees consider climate change mitigation to be the most important target, the majority of them pursues targets which are well beyond the classical energy policy triangle. So it is surprising that at the same time, two thirds of the interviewees said that the Energiewende would be worthwhile achieving even if climate change would not exist.
“This finding is not necessarily good news for climate change mitigation,” says Michael Pahle, another author of the study. In fact this shows that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not the primary target but just one of many. Yet without a clear prioritization, the European emissions trading might not get the necessary public support. Subsidizing renewables, currently the main instrument of the Energiewende, in this regard is no alternative. The authors conclude that “a pluralistic Energiewende with many targets” and “a strategic Energiewende that advances ambitious climate change mitigation” are hardly compatible.
Article (in German): Joas, F., Pahle, M., Flachsland, C. (2014): Die Ziele der Energiewende: Eine Kartierung der Prioritäten. Ifo Schnelldienst 67 (09), 06-11
Weblink to the article: http://www.cesifo-group.de/de/ifoHome/publications/docbase/details.html?docId=19111882
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