Environment Minister Lemke: In the shadows | tagesschau.de

With the debate about nuclear power, Environment Minister Lemke could face defeat. It would be a setback for the Green politician – who is still looking for her role in the cabinet.

When Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock received representatives from 40 countries at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue this week, that would have been the Environment Minister’s job in the past. And so now Steffi Lemke’s job. But times have changed: even before Lemke was appointed Minister for the Environment, the former Green Party leaders had divided up the best parts of the Ministry of the Environment among themselves. International climate policy migrated to the Federal Foreign Office, the rest of the climate department to Invalidenstrasse in Robert Habeck’s Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Lemke is only left with sustainable climate protection, de facto a tattered ministry. So that it didn’t look like disempowerment, Lemke was cobbled together with consumer protection.

So far, there has been a lack of major impetus

Until now, one could not really get the impression that consumer protection was a matter close to the heart of the politician from Saxony-Anhalt. So far, the minister has made a name for herself with a push for a moratorium on electricity and gas cuts to protect consumers. The minister seems to be still looking for a little bit of her place in the government in other respects as well, and the really big impulses are still missing.

Nature conservation, species protection, natural climate protection are the issues that concern them. Lemke particularly likes to talk about the protection of peat soils, which may also be due to the fact that she studied agricultural science. Together with the Ministry of Agriculture, she agreed on a target agreement, the focus of which is the rewetting of drained moorland.

The environmental organizations are pleased with the Minister’s commitment to nature conservation. So far, nature conservation has been poorly positioned financially, says Olaf Bandt from BUND, the minister’s enforcement of the action program for natural climate protection – which also includes moor protection – is a whole new dimension. All in all, the minister wants to cooperate a lot with the other ministries when it comes to climate and species protection – she primarily does this with the green ministries of agriculture and economics.

In the shadow of Habeck

Less conflicts, more harmony – her motto. A noble approach, but that also means that Lemke not only has to take on grateful tasks: For example, explain to the conservationists that Habeck’s wind power plans now have priority.

In addition, the Ministry of the Environment tends to fall behind in public perception. For example, when Lemke, together with Habeck, invited to the G7 climate and environment summit, the environment minister also gave a speech, but at the end Minister Habeck in particular was quoted as saying “the status quo is the enemy”.

There is no lack of persistence

Admittedly, it is not easy to exist alongside Habeck’s talent for communication, but Lemke’s rather brittle communication style does not necessarily help to make a shrunken ministry more heard.

The Dessau native does not lack tenacity. She is repeatedly described as a politician with a mind of her own and great resilience, which, as she says herself, also has something to do with her GDR biography: “The peaceful revolution remains the most important political moment in my life to this day,” said Steffi Lemke compared to “Zeit” once.

It was also the serious environmental damage that drove them onto the streets at the time. Maybe that’s where her understanding for climate activists who block highways came from, for which Lemke was publicly criticized by the FDP.

Showdown about the combustion engine off

The Green politician, who comes from the left wing of the party, fought her biggest showdown of her term of office to date with Transport Minister Wissing over the end of combustion engines. Shortly before the EU meeting, the FDP advocated excluding e-fuels from the combustion engine. Lemke fought against it until the end. In the end, there was a compromise that leaves a back door open for e-fuels, but largely retains the green line – and that of the EU.

Nuclear safety is also part of the environment ministry. And so Lemke recently got involved in the nuclear debate. Lemke spoke out against the extension of the term. A joint examination with the Ministry of Economics showed that the economic costs and risks would outweigh the risks.

Now, however, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has announced a renewed examination. Should something else come out of it, that should be another bitter pill for Lemke, who is opposed to nuclear power. The Federal Environment Minister had already campaigned in vain against the EU nuclear power being classified as sustainable.