If Germany can prove that fighting climate change doesn’t necessarily require nuclear power, other nations will follow. But if Germany fails, a nuclear renaissance may result, says DW’s Jens Thurau. German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel had his chance to shine in December at the Bali climate conference. No country, the energetic Social Democratic politician says, is similarly engaged in protecting the climate as Germany. By 2020 the country will reduce its emissions of greenhouse gasses by 40 percent by producing more energy from renewable sources, by saving energy, by investing billions in building renovations, by using energy from clean coal and gas power stations. And without using nuclear power. By 2021 all 17 of Germany’s nuclear power plants — one after another — will be shut down. When compared to other industrialized nations, that decision makes Germany more and more of an outsider. A new nuclear power plant is being built in Finland. France, the United States and Japan also have plans for new nuclear power stations. Great Britain recently decided to put more of an emphasis on nuclear power. These governments argue that the international community’s goals, which climate change researchers still call insufficient, to reduce […]