[1] Through the transition to renewable energy sources, some people believe Germany has become the climate change policy leader and renewable energy leader in the European Union (EU) and in the world with ambitious climate change programs, though Germany's CO2 emissions per capita are in fact among the highest in Europe, almost twice those of e.g. France.
[4] Through these strategies, policy instruments have been put in place that have contributed to the success of the significant air pollution reduction in Germany.
[5] The German Feed-in-Tariff policy introduced in 2000 led to the significant increase in renewable energy use and decreasing air pollution.
[7] There are three main triggers that put Germany on this positive path dependency and what led them to becoming a climate change policy leader.
[7] The second being the shock of the two oil price crises, in 1973 and 1979, that highlighted the problem of the German economy's strong dependence on unsure foreign sources.
[7] The integration of a green political party in the political-administrative system distinguishes Germany from the United States and Japan.
The system of proportional representation makes it difficult for any single party to gain enough seats in the parliament to form a government by itself.
The system encourages negotiation and consensus politics on and between all levels of government because it applies to all federal, state, and local bodies.
Germany's vulnerability to the physical effects of climate change is much lower than the risk to the United States, Japan, Australia and Spain.
[12] Although certain measures have clear and distinct costs, there is a growing belief that the broader efforts to move to cleaner technologies have created economic "winners" as well.
In addition, the dependency on the world energy market for fossil resources is decreasing, reducing Germany's economic-political vulnerability.
They contain provisions to protect citizens from unacceptably high pollutant emissions from installations as well as requirements to prevent adverse effects on the environment.
[5] This instrument entered into force in March 2010 and was an important step toward reducing particulate matter emissions from small firing installations, such as stoves.
[5] A large proportion of pollution in Germany is due to transportation through the air over long distances from neighbouring countries.
For this reason, the German government is actively involved in the constructive dialogue on air pollution control measures at both the European and international level.
The mechanism provides long-term security to renewable energy producers, typically based on the cost of generation of each technology.
[15] As of July 2014, the feed-in tariffs range from 3.33 ¢/kWh for hydropower facilities over 50 MW to 12.88 ¢/kWh for solar installations on buildings up to 30 kWp and 19 ¢/kWh for offshore wind.
From this revised act, specific deployment corridors now stipulate the extent to which renewable energy is to be expanded in the future and the feed-in tariffs gradually will no longer be fixed by the government, rather they will be determined by auction.
However, unlike earlier versions of the Germany's climate change plans, the commission will not set a date for an exit from coal.