REFORMS IN GERMANY

Reforms in Germany

Reforms in Germany

Reforms in Climate and energy policies in Germany

Reforms in energy and climate policy sector of Germany are one of the best implemented policies with regards to sustainable development related to policy sectors of the country. The highly ambitious program of 1990-1991 for reducing the CO2 emission was one step in regulating the environmental conditions of the country. The knowledge base of this program was founded by the parliamentary Enquête Commission of the 1980s whose purpose was to ensure climate protection. A landmark in the reforms related to environment protection was achieved in the summer of 1990 as the cabinet endorsed a target reduction of CO2 emission by 25 percent to 30 percent between the time periods of 1987 to 2005. In order to conform it to the international targets, the target was later amended to a 25 % reduction in CO2 emission by 2005. The 25 percent reduction in CO2 emission was to be achieved on the basis of the levels of CO2 emissions in 1990 (Jänicke,, 2001, pp 11).

In 1990, the IMA (Interministerielle Arbeitsgruppe) was instituted for climate protection and it was to be headed by the ministry of the environment. IMA proved very efficient in allotting responsibilities to different relevant ministries for implementing climate protection measures. These ministries ranged from economic affairs to agriculture and also included diverse fields such as technology, construction and transport. IMA successfully integrated climate protection measures into governmental decisions. The reforms initiated by IMA were successful in the climate protection sector policy of the German Government. The IMA started off by building up a program to enforce climate protection measures that included 30 strong steps for ensuring the reduction of CO2 emissions. These 30 measures were later increased to 109 measures (Beuermann, 2000, pp 87-89).

The IMA was not the only institution to carry on with the climate policy. When it seemed that the targets could not be met as a recent prognosis revealed that the CO2 emission could only be curtailed by only 18-20 percent by the target year 2005, the federal government was quick to step in. the federal government presented a new program entitled the National Climate Protection Program in the year 2000, which included over 150 measures in order to follow the policies laid down by its predecessors (Jänicke,, 2001, pp 11).

In order to meet for the shortfall of the 5-7 percent in the targeted reduction emission of CO2, the government opted towards other alternatives that relied on new sectoral targets for domestic consumers of power. These included private buildings, households, energy and industries. The transport sector too was included in the effort to successfully implement the climate protection program. Other significant measures included to ensure the success of the program were the imposition of the ecological tax program. Promotion of renewable sources of energy was also encouraged, while attempts were also undertaken to ensure energy saving steps. To strengthen climate protection measures an Energy agency was also founded in this regard (Lafferty, 2000, pp ...