Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has been reelected for the fourth time, no less, even if it wasn’t considered as a great victory in CDU’s headquarters. What are the implications and hot topics at stake? Many, and in many different fields, from the migration management policies to the environment. About the latter, commenters are already speculating on the turn that events could take in case of these different alliances: since Germany is trying to completely change its policies towards a new paradigm of Green Economy, cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% in 2020, the possibilities in the choice of the coalitions could effectively change the application of such shift: an alliance with the Green Party would eventually speed up the process, even though, two months before the beginning of 2018, the emission reductions attest at around 27% of the original target; an alliance with the SPD, on the other hand, would not eventually affect the outcome of such objective. For Germany, that started to take such measures in 1989 after years of uncertainty following the Chernobyl incident, this project has a pivotal role, since it’s also one of the reasons why Berlin is recognized not only in Europe, but also in the entire world, as a leader into the implementation of groundbreaking methods for global change, going from policy-making to innovation. In fact, looking at data provided for 2016, Germany already produces one third of its energy throughout renewable sources, and plans to get free of fossil fuel dependence in 2050. The next, biggest challenge though, will be the rise of the Alt – Right movement “Alternative fur Deutschland”, that would imply a long battle for the re-dimensioning of German commitments with the EU and the tightening of the relations with Russia, which is another stone on the road of independence from carbon.

​Par Gianluigi Casalena

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