Germany shows contradictions on climate change

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is the world's sixth largest emitter of greenhouses gases, builds some of the fastest and most polluting cars on the road, rejects speed limits to cut CO2 and is replacing its nuclear power with coal-burning plants.

Yet the world's third largest industrial nation nevertheless enjoys an improbable reputation as a leader in the fight against climate change -- and will be a key, if controversial, player at the U.N. Climate Conference in Bali starting on Monday.

Despite the contradictions, Germany's pioneering renewable energy laws have been widely copied and more half the world's solar power is produced in the northern European country of 82 million even though it is often covered by thick clouds.

So is Germany doing enough to fight climate change?

"No, in face of the threat, it's clear you can never really be doing enough to fight climate change," Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an interview with Reuters.

"But political leaders have to come up with a realistic implementation plan to protect the environment and cut CO2 -- and not just stand back and paint horror scenarios. I think in Germany we are still quite ambitious about that."

Chancellor Angela Merkel and Steinmeier, now Vice Chancellor, made climate change a focal point of Germany's G8 presidency in 2007. They strongly back efforts in Bali to agree a successor to the Kyoto Protocol to combat global warming.

At Germany's prodding at a G8 summit in Heiligendamm, the United States and other industrial allies agreed on the need for "substantial" cuts in emissions as a step towards slowing global warming after the United States blocked European hopes of agreeing a target of 50 percent cuts from 1990 to 2050.