In 2018, the company and the Ministry of Transport agreed on a plan against low water. The policy has done little.
(Photo: Reuters)
The annual reports of temperature records are now part of the depressing summer routine for many Germans. For years we have been sensing and measuring how climate change is making Germany hotter and drier – with dramatic consequences for the landscape, economy and society.
An example: the water levels on the Rhine have been falling for weeks, and now it has dried up to such an extent that commercial shipping is no longer navigable in places. The companies affected, which are dependent on Europe’s largest waterway for their raw material supply, began weeks ago to fill up their warehouses and explore alternative transport routes. But should the low water last longer, production cutbacks cannot be ruled out, they say.
In 2018, many were still surprised by the dryness of the Rhine in summer. The consequences were profit warnings worth millions – and an eight-point plan against low water, which the economy had agreed with the Ministry of Transport at the time to prepare for similar events in the future.
Climate change is accelerating, but policy responsiveness is not
However, little of this was implemented politically. Only the companies have kept their promise to invest in the development of new transport concepts. On the other hand, the decisive contribution of politics is still pending: namely to improve the navigability of the Rhine through conversion.
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The renewed low water on the Rhine is just one example of how the federal and state governments have failed to set the right course for climate change. For example, there is no national heat action plan to protect risk groups.
Global warming is accelerating, but policy responsiveness is not. But the extreme weather shows that time can no longer be postponed.
More: Low water: These are the consequences for Germany’s economy