Danielle Myles, Alex Irwin-Hunt January 27, 2022
Germany’s new government has named climate change as its top priority and promised reforms to bolster its start-up ecosystem as it aims to modernise Europe’s biggest economy. The coalition bet
ween centre-left Social Democrats, pro-business Free Democrats and the Greens took office in December 2021, and is already signalling big opportunities for those investing in the green transition and digitisation.
Its policy agenda is praised for being more progressive than those under Angela Merkel’s 16 years of leadership, which often focused on sustaining the status quo. “This coalition treaty is very much geared towards the future of economic development, and social and technological issues,” said Achim Hartig, head of investor consulting at Germany Trade & Invest. “That is appealing to the business community.”
The biggest investment opportunities are tipped to be in renewables and activities linked to the green economy, such as electric mobility. Companies in these sectors “will benefit from this new government,” said Markus Van Tilburg, managing director of FDI consultancy Global Aldea.
The coalition has named the Paris Agreement as its top priority and expanded the federal economics ministry to also encompass climate action. It has brought forward the deadline for phasing out coal to 2030, upped offshore wind targets by 50% and wants to quadruple solar power capacity by the end of this decade.