But ahead of the German election on 26 September, many critics disagree. Europe\u2019s most powerful leader faces a mass movement of climate protests accusing her and her fellow politicians of remaining idle on the issue for too long and of favouring German industrial interests over climate action. Many say Merkel\u2019s long-standing international engagement on emissions cuts, including attempts to keep challenging partners such as China at the table, stands in contrast to lacklustre efforts at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A wasted decade? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Under Merkel, \u201cclimate policy has gone through many twists and turns and we almost wasted the decade between 2010 and 2020,\u201d says<\/a> researcher Ottmar Edenhofer, who has advised the chancellor on climate policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Merkel\u2019s government did get a lot done in the end, this was not through Merkel\u2019s proactive leadership, says Edenhofer. Instead, it was largely forced by the Fridays for Future protests, a landmark climate ruling by Germany\u2019s supreme constitutional court, and guidelines set by EU agreements. The government\u2019s last-minute achievements included a coal exit plan, a new climate law setting the target for climate neutrality by 2045, and a national carbon price on transport and heating fuels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Merkel had often worked against \u201can incredible number of influences from all directions\u201d and held her course during laborious processes like convincing the G7 and G20 leaders to aim for more ambitious climate targets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Two years after she took office, German media<\/a> started calling Merkel the \u201cclimate chancellor\u201d. In 2007, she made climate a theme of Germany\u2019s EU presidency and as host of the G8, she managed to elicit climate target agreements from both forums. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Climate action has been a big part of her political life since 1994 when she became environment minister. The following year Merkel presided over the first UN climate change conference, COP1, held in Berlin. There she developed her trademark negotiating style: overnight talks<\/a> with sleep-deprived delegates that eventually culminated in agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen she was in the room with other heads of state and governments she was the one who really cared and understood why this was important,\u201d says Connie Hedegaard, first European Commissioner for Climate Action from 2010-2014, and former Danish environment and climate minister. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Merkel\u2019s special knack for finding compromise sets her apart from other world leaders. \u201cHer approach is that you cannot move forward without compromise,\u201d says Andreas Rinke, chief Berlin correspondent for Reuters. \u201cThis distinguishes her from other politicians who tend to think in terms of victory and defeat.\u201d Rinke, who first interviewed her before she was sworn in in 2005, and over the years accompanied her on more than 50 foreign visits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Several of these trips took her to China, Germany\u2019s most important trading partner<\/a> in 2020, for the fifth consecutive year. In line with Merkel\u2019s search for compromise and efforts to keep diplomatic channels open, Germany under her leadership had a \u201cpragmatic and pro-business approach<\/a>\u201d towards China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, China sticks out as Merkel\u2019s biggest foreign policy blind spot, according to Noah Barkin, managing editor at Rhodium Group and senior visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund, in a collection of expert statements<\/a> by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies. The chancellor has been \u201ctoo slow\u201d to acknowledge the risks of the shift in China\u2019s trajectory under President Xi Jinping and adjust her policy accordingly, said Barkin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Merkel\u2019s approach helped to keep dialogue open at the international level, even after she identified China as a hindrance<\/a> to a deal at the Copenhagen climate COP in 2009. She has <\/a>frequently<\/a> highlighted<\/a> that global challenges such as climate change could not be tackled without China. During Germany\u2019s EU Council presidency in 2020, she had aimed<\/a> to put a focus on EU\u2013China relations, but the coronavirus pandemic meant that the carefully timed in-person Leaders\u2019 summit to build momentum for the UN COP in Glasgow could not take place<\/a>. Instead, several video conferences<\/a> with a smaller circle of leaders put climate high on the agenda<\/a> \u2013 including three-way calls<\/a> between Merkel, Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Merkel\u2019s style rankles with some. While supporters see it as a \u201cmodel of rational, steadfast leadership<\/a>\u201d, helping to steer Germany and the EU through many crises during her four terms, critics say she lacks vision or the will to push through grand ideas of her own. They accuse her of acting only when pushed, of procrastinating and dithering \u2013 waiting until a debate has unfolded and everyone weighed in before making any decisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Merkel\u2019s style has thus elicited few surprises in climate policy, says Rinke, with one notable exception: her government\u2019s flip-flop on nuclear plants after Japan\u2019s Fukushima nuclear disaster. Having just decided to extend their life, Merkel said Germany would quit the technology days after the disaster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fukushima changed her thinking, says Rinke. Until then, Merkel had thought of the technology as a more climate-friendly alternative with manageable risks. \u201cIt was surprising for many to see the determination with which Merkel reversed 180 degrees in the other direction.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Merkel\u2019s decision took other EU member states by surprise. \u201cThat was a very unilateral move, which a lot of neighbouring countries were not happy with, to put it mildly,\u201d recalls Hedegaard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Merkel\u2019s last year in office draws to a close, her legacy may now be tainted by a strong rebound of emissions after the coronavirus crisis. Instead of presenting a perfect image of Merkel\u2019s goal of a green recovery, the rise<\/a> would throw the country off course to meet its 2030 target. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Germany now faces huge energy transition challenges: it must urgently ramp up renewables expansion, kick-start the transition in industry, develop its power grid, tackle costs and become more digitalised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Merkel took office in 2005, the country\u2019s Energiewende \u2013 plan to transition to a low-carbon, nuclear-free economy \u2013 was already in full swing. The nuclear exit had been agreed by the Social Democrat and Green coalition after the 1998 election. By the time she became chancellor, Germany had already introduced feed-in tariffs for wind and solar and 10% of the country\u2019s power production<\/a> was being generated by renewable sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By 2020, this had risen to almost 45%. Installed generation capacity of wind, solar, biomass and hydropower rose from less than 30 gigawatts (GW) in 2005 to more than 130 GW today<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, expansion of renewables has recently stalled, due to regulatory hurdles, long permit procedures and the auction system for renewables support, which Merkel\u2019s government had introduced to replace fixed feed-in tariffs. Since she took office, greenhouse gas emissions remained largely unchanged before a steady decline during her last term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Critics also say she has actively prevented more progressive decisions when national interests were at stake \u2013 especially those of industries like coal or cars. She was labelled the \u2018auto industry chancellor\u2019 after reportedly personally intervening in 2013 to prevent stricter CO2 limits for cars at EU level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hedegaard recounts: \u201cWhen we finalised trilogue negotiations between the Commission, Parliament and Council about CO2 emission standards for cars in overnight talks in 2013, Germany was against it, but the agreement went through.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Angela](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Angela-Merkel-attends-a-virtual-Climate-Summit-with-world-leaders_2FA2RBR-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>The energy challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Protest](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/protesters-carry-banner-saying-how-dare-you-protesting-coal-power-in-Germany.jpg\")
<\/div>National interests and the \u2018auto industry chancellor\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n