How to Go Low Carbon? The Role of Conflicts in Society and Institutional Configurations in Coal Exit Policies in Germany and Canada

Low carbon energy transformations have social and economic implications, for which solutions must be found. One of the major challenges of phasing out coal is the impact on regions, communities and workers who have been dependent on the coal industry. They are demanding support in order to manage the transition to new business areas and economic sectors. This will be illustrated by the example of coal phase-out policies in Germany and Canada. The central question of this paper is how Germany and Canada deal with the economic and social implications of the coal phase-out and what role the democratic and institutional configurations of the two countries play in this. In both countries coal still plays a major role in energy supply. Both countries aim to replace coal, oil and nuclear energy as far as possible by gas and renewable energies. While in Germany the concertation of interests is an integral part of political decision-making, the system in Canada has less corporatist characteristics. The relationship between the Canadian state and NGOs is institutionalised to a much lesser extent than in the Federal Republic of Germany. The article considers executive-legislative institutional configurations and the role of the civic society as influencing factors of coal policy, as well as electoral interests and the framework conditions of federalism.