Merkel's Reelection and German Green Energy Issues

On Sunday September 21, ruling German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a champion of renewable energy, won a historic third term in office with an overwhelming victory for her ruling conservative Christian Democrats. Merkel is now set to eclipse Margaret Thatcher as Europe’s longest serving head of government.

Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) won over 41 per cent of the vote, representing an increase of 8 per cent over Germany’s last general election in 2009. The election results give the party 311 seats in the Bundestag which is just five short of an absolute majority.

Ms Merkel will have to address some difficult issues on the environmental front. Her government's extensive reliance green sources of energy leave some expressing concerns about the eventual cost consumers. Along with her party, she will also have to deal with the very expensive decision abandon Germany’s dependence on nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

The Green Party's representation in the Bundestag declined as German voters appeared to reject its platform premised on tax increases. They won only 8 per cent of the vote, a significant decline from the preceding elections.

The biggest blow was dealt to Merkels coalition partners for the past four years, the pro-business, liberal Free Democrat Party (FDP). They were ousted from the German parliament for the first time since 1949 after one of their worst election performances on record, securing just 4.8 per cent of the vote.

Ms Merkel now faces the prospect of forming a coalition government with the opposition Social Democrats, who have 192 seats, or the environmentalist Greens, who won 63 seats.

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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The CDP Identifies Germany as the Global Sustainability Leader

According to The Carbon Disclosure Project's (CDP) list of top ten sustainable corporations, Germany is the dominate global force. Finland is ranked second, Spain is third and the Netherlands are fourth. Germany earned almost half of the top ten positions as ranked by the CDP. While four of the world's top ten companies come from Germany, none of the top ten are from the US.

The leadership of German companies should come as no surprise given the country's clean energy ambitions. Germany is already a global leader in wind, solar. Germany is aiming to get 80 percent of its electricity from renewable sources of energy by 2050. To help meet its ambitious target Germany is investing in R&D to pioneer new approaches to bioenergy, green hydrogen and energy storage.

The company with the highest disclosure score in this year's analysis (receiving the maximum score of 100) was the German pharmaceuticals company Bayer. The pharmaceutical giant got top marks for its disclosure on sustainability matters and an "A" grade for its actual results.

In third place was German company BASF followed by BMW. Both companies earned a score of 99 (out of a possible 100). In the eighth position was the Allianz Group (Germany). All three companies received "A" grades for their actual results.

For more information click here.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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G20 Disagreements and Global Economic Reforms

There are a number of disagreements between G20 member nations. Although the passage of a US financial reform bill was an important step for the recovering world economy, diverging national assessments threaten a coordinated global strategy.

The UN would like to see the developed world assume a greater share of its responsibilities for the green economy. Americans and Europeans disagree on whether to maintain or withdraw stimulus. The US warns against choking off nascent growth, while European countries are imposing austerity measures to manage rising levels of debt.

Canada disagrees with key European nations on taxing banks. Canada has argued against taxing banks to guard against future financial crises, while Britain, France and Germany want to see a tax on the banking sector.

China's recent announcement of renewed flexibility in its currency, the yuan, will probably succeed in deflecting attention away from new protectionist measures.

There appears to be agreement that the global system is under-capitalized and a there is a broad consensus on the need to invest more capital. Although there is agreement on the broader issue, there is disagreement on implementation time frames. Europe wants to move slowly to give its banks time to adjust, while the U.S. would prefer to see a faster pace.

The G20 has a pivotal role to play, decisions made by economic leaders in Toronto will not only determine the future of the economy, they will decide the future of our environment. While there seems to be agreement on the need for sustainable growth, charting a strategy to get there is proving difficult.

We need international economic reforms that will help maintain stability. We also need a strategy that positions green as the engine that will drive the global economy.
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