Climate Crisis in Germany (working title)

Germany is suffering from the climate crisis; temperatures in Germany have risen even more than the global average. And the car nation Germany has a problem: Germany must become climate-neutral by 2045. That's only 22 years away, a race against time. 
The photo essay describes a photographic journey through Germany and focuses on a country at the centre of an ecological and social transformation. The photographs show a country caught between hope and dystopia.

Summer 2023 was globally the hottest on record by a significant margin, and temperatures in Germany have risen much more than the worldwide average. Looking back to the pre-industrial era, Germany has already exceeded the two-degree limit. According to a fact sheet from the German Weather Service, the period from 2011 to 2020 was approximately two degrees Celsius warmer than the years from 1881 to 1910. Temperatures in Germany have risen significantly more than the global average, which stands at 1.1 to 1.2 degrees.

Germany is facing a serious problem: the industrial and automotive powerhouse of Germany must become climate-neutral by 2045. That's only 22 years away, a race against time. Economic interests, political ideologies, and solutions are being increasingly heatedly debated in Germany at the beginning of the 2020s. The societal climate is changing, climate activists are channeling their energy into increased activism, and scientists are researching new and more effective solutions. However, to satisfy Germany's energy demands, coal continues to be mined, wind turbines are being built too slowly, and discussions persist about how long gasoline-powered cars can still be sold.

The photo essay describes a photographic journey through Germany and focuses on a country in the midst of an ecological and social transformation. What new and unusual concepts exist to slow down the climate crisis? How is the landscape changing in Germany? And what does this mean for the daily lives of its people? The photo essay aims to provide viewers with a sense of a country in crisis, a calm and understated testimony to change, oscillating between hope and dystopia.