CLIMATE RADICALS

A study of how extremism in the German political landscape has proven to be ineffective in addressing climate change.

Abadi, a Berlin-based deputy editor of Foreign Policy and host of the magazine’s Ones and Tooze podcast, is interested in the way that climate radicalism has collided with Germany’s longstanding pattern of compromise and incremental change. He notes that in Germany, there is near universal acceptance of the dangers of climate change, although not as much agreement on the best way to respond. Some of the most vocal activist groups, such as Ende Gelände (“Stop Coal”) and Letzte Generation (“Last Generation”), take the view that the crisis is so urgent that traditional democratic procedures are not only inadequate, but part of the problem. The latter organization, writes the author, “enjoys the greatest momentum, in part because it has always recognized the few­est limits in its strategy of change. For the same reason, it has inspired the greatest public backlash.” Their tactics extend from marches and protests to disrupting traffic and gluing themselves to things. Abadi conducted careful interviews to assess their beliefs, but he finds no real policy agenda, just complaints and nihilism. The groups disdain any initiative by the government to address climate change, and they see the Green Party as having betrayed its principles by accepting the compromises of the parliamentary system. Their recent drift into property damage and sabotage has been counterproductive, turning a significant section of Germany's quiet middle class against them. Abadi sometimes seems overly polite, concluding that the radicals are well intentioned but essentially naïve, even when many of their actions suggest otherwise. Throughout this brief book, the author makes many interesting points about politics in the era of climate change.

Abadi’s close-up study of German climate politics reveals an obsession with performance over policy.