"Germany’s Coal Phase‐Out: Full Speed Ahead
for Renewable Energy Sources?"

Speaker: Dr. Felix Matthes, Institute for Applied Ecology

In June 2018 the German Government established the Commission on Growth, Structural Change and Employment (known as the Coal Commission). The commission had the goal to develop a coal phase-out plan to meet short-, medium- and long-term climate goals, while also addressing structural development in the coal-mining regions.

Representatives from the government, civil society, business, and labor unions had intensive discussions for months to provide advice on the planned exit from coal extraction and combustion. On January 26, 2019, the commission agreed on a coal exit by 2038 after final negotiation round lasting more than 20 hours.

Insights on Germany’s coal phase out strategy and the negotiation process were given in our Pleanary Session on Wednesday, April 3 at 9 am with commission member Dr. Felix Matthes, Research Coordinator for Energy & Climate Policy at the Institute for Applied Ecology.