Abstract:  This article analyses a key shift in German energy and climate policy. Following the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the German government decided to shut down eight old nuclear reactors in the short term, and to phase-out the remaining reactors within the next seven years. At the same time, its ambitious climate policy goals relied on energy security through a growing share of renewable energies, an expanded energy grid, improved energy efficiency, and technological innovations, as well as the use of natural gas as a so-called “bridging technology.” In this context, this article provides an overview of competing explanations circulating in the political and social science literature for this path-breaking policy shift, and demonstrates how network analysis can be used to offer an alternative explanation—one in which this policy shift was decisively shaped by both the structural context and situational dynamics.

Keywords:  climate policy; energy policy; issue competition; social network analysis

Published:   27 August 2025

Issue:   Vol 13 (2025): The Politics of Environmental Networks (In Progress)