Dear friends, Dear colleagues, Dear All,

I hereby apply for place 4 on the federal list for the Bundestag election 2021. Therefore, I am running as a direct candidate in the constituency of Göttingen.

On the 26th of September, a historic federal election will take place. For the first time in the history of the German federal republic, an incumbent chancellor will not stand for re-election. For the first time, it will be Green versus Black. For the first time, with Annalena Baerbock, a Green candidate is running for the office of chancellor. In order to make this election a Green success, I would like to give my contribution.

This federal election will decide how Germany in Europe deals with three major global crises. With a policy of actively shaping or with a policy of passive sitting out, even a policy of being driven. As Greens, we know that only change creates security in crises.

The Corona crisis once again made clear how closely interconnected the world is – for good and for bad. But it also made clear how pale right-wing populism and ethnic nationalism are in the face of this challenge. Neither the pandemic nor the subsequent recession will be solved without global cooperation.

The second crisis is the ongoing climate crisis, which is accelerating despite Corona. The new forest extinction in the Solling as well as in the Harz, catastrophic floods in Africa, the shrinking of glaciers in the Alps as well as on Greenland, fires in California and Siberia … they all show how dramatic the consequences of global warming already have become. If we want to get on the 1.5-degree path, the next decade will be crucial. For this, the course must be set in the coming legislative period.

The third crisis is the crisis of the international order. The failure of the international community to prevent flight and displacement, to stop state failure in many African countries, and to guarantee peace and stability is taking on ever greater proportions. Wherever nationalism and isolationism grow, the international order suffers.

Opposing these crises, overcoming them as well as reconstructing the country is the reason why we, as Greens, are now claiming to become the leading political party in Germany. Not because it is particularly convenient, but because it is necessary. The only way out of the crisis is green.

Therefore, we Greens are well-prepared, both in terms of our program and our people. When we called for a Green New Deal in the last election campaigns, some were laughing at us. Today, there is a consensus in Europe that, to overcome the Corona recession, we must invest substantially in climate-neutral technologies – financed through common European bonds. Ending austerity policy is now Europe’s agenda. In 2013, the negotiations between the CDU/CSU and the Greens collapsed on this point. Today, many are pleased that the Biden-Harris administration in the USA is following precisely this path. The only way out of the crisis is green.

If Europe is supposed to become climate-neutral before 2050, we have to implement concrete changes today. Germany, as the largest producer of greenhouse gases in Europe, must cut more than two-thirds of its greenhouse gases by 2030: through a faster phase-out of coal, through an end of the fossil combustion engine, and through a massive expansion of renewable energies.

This will also create new conflicts. Individual industries will shrink – others will grow. Electric busses need charging stations – also in front of one’s own front door. Bicycles need more space – at the expense of parking spaces as well as lanes. Heat pumps, electric cars, electric chemistry, hydrogen steel plants will all need more and bigger wind turbines. In the next ten years, we need to bring twice as much wind and solar power to the grid as in the past twenty years – since the beginning of the energy turnaround under the Red-Green Coalition.

Who else but us Greens has the courage to face up to these challenges? To argue together with businesses, with trade unions, with environmental associations about the path to climate neutrality? We must make our contribution to Europe – so that Europe can affect the world. In climate protection, together with the USA and China. Germany must once again become the climate leader in Europe.

Germany. Everything is possible. After 16 years, we have to get out of the opposition. We want Annalena Baerbock to become our next Chancellor. We are combining all the forces of the GREENS to achieve this. Women as well as men, ranging from the young greens to those with government experience – we need to combine our entire green forces. Therefore, I would like to make my contribution.

In the federal elections on the 26th of September, in Lower Saxony’s local elections on the 12th of September, in the run-off elections on the 26th of September – everything is possible.

With best regards

Jürgen