Fossil Fuel Project Divides Germany's Green Transition

As of October 20th, 2025, Germany is facing backlash over its plans to build a new fossil fuel project in the Wadden Sea nature reserve. The joint Dutch-German venture, which received approval from regional authorities last month, aims to extract 13 billion cubic meters of gas from just outside the protected marine area.

Locals and activists have criticized the project, arguing that it is incompatible with the country's legal deadline to stop polluting the atmosphere with carbon emissions by 2045. The planned structure, a dark metal platform that would rise out of the water, is seen as a "punch in the face" by Borkum's independent mayor, Jürgen Akkermann, who is working on transitioning the island to geothermal energy by 2030.

The push for the gas project comes as Germany's political enthusiasm for ditching fossil fuels has slumped. High energy prices have helped drive a surge in support for the far-right, which has aggressively attacked green policies and portrayed their rollback as a solution to the country's economic woes. The new center-right and center-left coalition government, led by Economy Minister Katherina Reiche, a former utility company lobbyist, is now pushing to build 20 gigawatts of gas-fired power plants by 2030 while calling for a "reality check" on renewable energy plans.

Activists like Carla Reemtsma of Fridays for Future warn that the gas project, though relatively small, will pave the way for more "catastrophic" developments that "normalize the destruction of the climate." The decision to allow the project to be powered by an offshore wind farm has also been criticized as "greenwashing" by environmental groups, as the extracted fuels will still release large amounts of greenhouse gases when burned.