The so-called “special military operation” of Russia in Ukraine has been implemented for more than nine months by the time this paper is written. Not only does it contribute to the volatility of world politics, but it also reveals the weaknesses of certain actors in the international community, including Germany and its seeming inability to fulfill the commitment to global sustainability matters. With energy becoming instrumentalized by Putin, it is not difficult to see that Germany, consequently, is struggling with the dilemma of environmental issues, energy security and political correctness.
Germany’s dilemma
It has been a worldwide mission to limit the average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which presumably gathers solid commitment from Germany. Along with the other 166 countries that have agreed on the resolutions drawn in COP, in accordance with the Paris Agreement, the world has Germany’s pledge to diversify energy sources towards more environmentally friendly ones. Such German promises do not just stop there. They reach the point where the country has decided to support “the poorest and most vulnerable population groups” through its Global Shield against Climate Risks proposal, supporting them financially during times of climate disasters. It is an achievement worth recognizing, with Germany being one of the first leading actors explicitly committed to providing an umbrella for developing countries who shudder from the impacts of environmental-related issues.
However, being able to lend a hand to smaller countries does not guarantee the ability to fulfill the big power’s responsibilities itself. Several European countries, including Germany, have promised to cut the use of gas by 15% in order to align with the global promise on environmental problems, as well as to deal with the current political conditions in the world to which this goal has been achieved since July this year. The numbers seem promising for Germany, but the cause of reality might be less favorable. It is perceived that the drop in the amount of energy used in Germany is primarily due to the increase in gas prices, which actually may only be short-term and highly likely to lead to more chronic economic health problems such as inflation and market instability. In fact, the household gas bill at the moment has doubled that of a year ago due to the lack of resources resulting from the political situation.
To make matters worse, a series of events have piled up: Winter is coming, energy is being used up, and the globe is about to run out of time to be fixed. These are the problems that may threaten the gas saving plans of Germany, requiring the country to diversify its sources of energy shortly. Such conditions can indeed be seen in several countries, but Germany especially has experienced more bitterly, to some extent, thanks to its domestic political norms that block the ability to exploit or take advantage of almost all common gas resources. In other words, it seems ironic that Germany is dedicatedly trying to assist other countries while struggling with the environmental issues and energy crisis of itself with very few options to adopt.
What else if not Russian gas?
As a matter of course, political correctness does not allow Germany to continue importing gas from Russia at the same amount as before. The government has become the center of criticism by both the above and below, which are the international system and its own residents, for still highly relying on Russian gas. Nevertheless, the energy tie between the two countries has been knotted for a long course of history by a massive amount of material investment and diplomatic deals. Besides, the problem with natural gas is that it is very difficult to be shipped from one country to another without specialized pipelines that require time and money to construct, and suppliers with proper geographic locations. The first and second elements are short, and hardly can one be more suitable for the last one than Russia, from the German viewpoint. Some alternatives for Russian gas will be discussed hereby; however, each all comes with its own cost that may ask Germany to compensate in one way or another.
Liquefied Natural Gas: It is indeed a more manageable form of gas to move across borders, resolving the shipping obstacles. Yet, the problems of prices and environmental friendliness remain unchanged. LNG is expensive due to the expenses added to build the specialized storage to contain it and liquefy the gas, not to mention the longer delivery distance. Even if money is not perceived as a problem, Germany still needs to have LNG terminals, which it currently does not. LNG also seems unable to address ecological issues either since it is basically still gas. That said, this option appears to do more harm than good as a replacement.
Nuclear Power: From a personal perspective, this is a better option compared to the abovementioned. However, the majority of the German population is either against or does not fully support it, further embracing anti-nuclearism. In reality, the country has already planned to off-grid the last three operating nuclear power plants by the end of this year, which would have been done if it was not due to the energy shortage resulting from Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. It is a political game where Germans do not like the idea of nuclear being around them, and the politicians have to ensure they align with people’s preferences in order to maintain their power. This shared opinion among Germans has contributed to explaining why Germany would instead choose to let coal plants retain favor again over nuclear plants, assuming that environmental problems probably can wait longer. That said, nuclear power is a very potential option, yet it seems less likely to be taken.
Green Energy: Green energy, or renewable energy, is the ultimate goal of not only Germany but the world as a whole, with solar and wind power being one of its most common types. However, utilizing green energy in Germany is not a perfect solution due to its heavy dependency on weather conditions. Quite distinct from the other sources of supplies, green energy is vulnerable to both shortage and surplus of energy produced, making it extremely expensive, thus tremendously influencing the market. Germany is already the country with the highest energy price due to its adoption of renewable energy, and increasing the proportion of usage can push it to an even higher level. German households and the government probably do not need that at the moment.
Can international trade save the day?
From those aforementioned analyses, Germany appears to be stuck in a dilemma regarding its commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ensure the political correctness of not using either Russian gas or nuclear power and cope with the emergency of energy shortage. The question is, how can it find a way out? Germany has some pretty pleasant advantages that make it stand out: Big regional power and EU members. In other words, despite often being perceived as hesitant to take over more responsibilities, it still has sufficient capability to become the game-changer and channel other countries in the region towards its will. The first thing to start might be a proposal to adjust existing cross-border agreements and promote the role of the EU in assisting its country members, focusing on two aspects: Redesigning the scheme of EU commitments in combating climate change and enhancing energy trade among its members.
Regarding the existing trade regime, it could modify the overall undertaking from one-size-fits-all to nation-based. Regardless, the EU will remain the watchdog to assign the tasks and track the implementation process to each country member. The assignments should not only be assessed from the economic capacities and position in the political world, but natural conditions and social characteristics also play an essential role in making decisions. A country like Germany should be deemed a money spender or investor in trade relations with other providers who are more in the nature of constructing wind turbines or solar panels, with their trade-off officially supported by EU mechanisms. It is also associated with the second aspect to be touched upon, which is to enhance regional-wise interexchange. The idea to buy nuclear power from France, for example, is very conceivable and can be expanded to be taken at the organization level, and Germany can start a call for such win-win trade agreements, endorsing the participants of other EU countries.
