The Environment Minister’s balance sheet: Schulze’s Momentum

Too pale, too harmless: For a long time it looked as if Environment Minister Schulze would end her time at the cabinet table with at best a moderate balance sheet. But then she got unexpected help.

“Let’s have a little fun too,” says Svenja Schulze in a good mood. She is on a summer trip, the start was in Duisburg. The good mood is not unusual with the environment minister, as she is considered to be the cheerful nature of the cabinet. In a newspaper interview she once replied: “Everyone should see that politics is fun.”

Politics is a lot of fun, especially when you get your way. Schulze leaves no doubt about that on this trip: “I have achieved a lot and achieved a lot,” she confidently sums up her balance sheet as Environment Minister.

And in fact, when it comes to timing, nobody is quick to fool the minister. Ironically, the last week of the session is likely to be one of the most successful of the social democratic head of department: Shortly before, Schulze managed to get two important legislative proposals through parliament: the amendment to the climate protection law and the insect protection package.

Too pale, too harmless

That was not necessarily to be expected, for a long time it looked as if she would not necessarily leave the field as the winner in both topics and thus the record of her legislature would be at most mediocre. Too pale, too harmless and just not assertive enough in terms of climate protection, criticized environmentalists. And also when it comes to the coal phase-out: For many climate protection activists, the agreed phase-out date is far too late, and the compensation payments for the operators are too high.

In the case of the insect protection package, on the other hand, the Environment Minister fought a bitter battle with Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner. There was talk of the big cat war, at times the ministers got caught up in such a way that it looked as if the heralded rescue of the bees would end as a blowout. But in the end, the Chancellor intervened, a few million more flowed for the farmers – and the package, which includes more protected biotopes and, for the first time, a ban on glyphosate by the end of 2023, was decided.

Farmer Dietmar Veith, whom the Minister visits on the summer trip, ensures that seeds are used on his meadows for the greatest possible biodiversity. “Sometimes I feel like a landscaper with a herd of suckler cows,” he mockingly tells the minister and warns that the farmers also have to live from their yields. But unlike many other farmers, he is pleased that the minister has prevailed on insect protection and is no longer being blocked.

At odds with Union-led ministries

Schulze also likes to talk about blockades and resistance. And always when it comes to the Union: “What I found a shame is that it was always very difficult to make real progress with the Union,” she says. This is of course also campaign rhetoric, but in fact Schulze often bit his teeth at the Union-led ministries during the legislature. Not only was she often at odds with Klöckner’s Ministry of Agriculture, but also with Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer or Peter Altmaier from the economic department.

The first climate protection law in 2019 was in itself a success for the environment minister. But then in the end it failed due to the Union’s resistance to setting climate targets for the years 2030 to 2040. The fact that the Constitutional Court has now objected to precisely that is an unexpectedly fortunate turn for the minister.

Schulze seizes the opportunity

Although the verdict is the success of environmental activists who had sued, the minister seized the opportunity and made the verdict her success story: As soon as the verdict was read out, her house was writing a draft for tightening the climate protection law in no time at all. In terms of power strategy, the minister cleverly uses the momentum that everyone suddenly wants to be climate savers.

But their assertiveness is waning when it comes to measures to achieve climate protection goals. The division of the additional costs for heating through the CO2 price between tenants and landlords, which is important for the SPD, cannot be made with the Union faction in the end. And the coalition is no longer doing anything worth mentioning when it comes to expanding renewable energies.

A touch of farewell

The missing measures are the Achilles heel of Schulze’s success. This becomes clear again and again on the summer trip. At Thyssenkrupp’s steelworks in Duisburg, for example: Here, with strong support from the federal government, they want to convert production to climate-neutral steel. But whether there will be enough green hydrogen in the next few years, which is necessary for climate-neutral steel, is in the stars.

The minister is publicly optimistic, but she also knows that the newly formulated climate targets will only be successful in the long term if the targets are achieved. This is one of the reasons why she answers the question of what the future holds for her: “I want to go on.” Knowing full well that the chances are not very good for the SPD and for Schulze. And so there is also a hint of goodbye on this summer trip. Despite all the good mood.