Germans urged to cut energy use to lessen dependence on Russia
Germany鈥檚 government has launched a campaign urging citizens to save energy in order to make the country more independent from Russian energy imports and accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels in its drive to become climate-neutral. 鈥淭he Russian war of aggression in Ukraine makes it painfully clear to us every day: we need to move away from fossil fuels and end our dependency on Russian imports,鈥� climate and economy minister Robert Habeck said. 鈥淥nly with more renewable energies and more energy efficiency will we strengthen our independence.鈥� He said his ministry鈥檚聽,听which is called 鈥�80 million together for energy change', will invite people to join in the effort to cut consumption.聽
A broad alliance of social, industry, environmental and consumer associations have joined the government鈥檚 efficiency drive and vowed to promote energy savings with their own initiatives.
Habeck stressed that high energy prices alone made energy savings urgently necessary. 鈥淭his is precisely why we want to raise awareness of the issue once again and make saving energy as easy as possible with tips, hints and examples鈥� for companies and private households, he said. 鈥淩egularly defrosting the freezer compartment, changing the shower head or switching the lighting in offices to LED 鈥� these reduce consumption. And if many people do them, it really does make a difference.鈥澛�
The campaign includes advertisements in public spaces, online portals and social media, as well as a phone hotline, events and stakeholder dialogues. It serves to support the government鈥檚聽听蹿辞谤 energy efficiency,听聽last month, that includes financial incentives, targeted support and regulatory changes.
鈥淒eal a blow to Putin while saving money鈥�
The associations said they decided to join the initiative because increasing efficiency was key to making the energy supply secure, sustainable, and affordable. 鈥淓very cubic meter of gas we use finances a war of aggression, and every ton of oil or coal fuels the climate crisis,鈥� said Jutta Gurkmann, executive director of the federation of German consumer organisations (vzbv). Environmental NGO umbrella group DNR called efficiency the 鈥渘ecessary twin of the renewable roll-out.鈥� Habeck said conserving energy enabled citizens to 鈥渄eal a blow to Putin while saving money at the same time.鈥� The association of municipal utilities (VKU), which also joined the government initiative, said that 鈥渋n recent years, energy efficiency has unfortunately and unjustifiably led a shadowy existence in the public discussion about the energy transition.鈥�
Habeck said the urgency of dealing with the triple challenge of energy security, the climate crisis, and the social effects of expensive energy had made the broad alliance possible. He said the involvement of many other actors made it 鈥渁 campaign from Germany for Germany,鈥� rather than a patronising top-down affair.
Environmental organisations and many experts have repeatedly criticised the government for putting too much emphasis on replacing Russian fossil fuel imports and subsidising energy use instead of stepping up efforts to reduce consumption. 鈥淚n the fourth month of war, economics minister Habeck finally turns his attention to the issue of saving energy,鈥� said the head of Greenpeace Germany, Martin Kaiser, adding that the transport ministry鈥檚 petrol subsidies counteracted the effort. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 like trying to extinguish a fire while at the same time adding fuel.鈥�
鈥淓xtinguishing a fire while adding fuel鈥�
Greenpeace, which said it will not join the government campaign but has intensified work on energy savings since the start of the war, warned the government not to shift the responsibility for energy savings onto citizens. 鈥淎 campaign is no substitute for a law,鈥� Kaiser said, adding the government could reduce energy use with easy steps such as a motorway speed limit and a ban on new oil and gas heating systems from 2024 at the latest.
Habeck freely admitted that the petrol subsidy was 鈥渟omewhat contradictory鈥� to the aim of saving energy, but said it served to relief citizens hit hardest by the energy price rise. He also said the campaign was no substitute for government policies to increase efficiency. 鈥淔or the whole thing to fly, we need to take on our responsibility.鈥�
Some other EU countries have also recently launched campaigns to encourage citizens to save energy, for example聽聽and the聽.
