As the world faces mounting environmental challenges, green parties have become influential players in shaping climate-focused policies. Defined by their commitment to finding solutions to climate change and promoting sustainable growth, green parties advocate for strong shifts in energy, transport and the industrial sector. From Germany’s Bündnis 90/Die Grünen to Ireland’s Green Party, their influence has grown significantly over the last few years; but how effective have their policies been at achieving their ambitious goals?
Examples of policies:
Green parties have soared by developing policies that are designed to decarbonise economies, reduce inequality, and secure environmental justice. For example, in Germany, the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen achieved their best results so far in the 2021 federal elections, receiving 14.8% of the vote. Their policies prioritised bold initiatives to align with estimations from Oxford’s Economics department, which stated that the global green economy represents a $10.3 trillion opportunity by 2050. The policies focused on pushing 80% of the country’s electricity to renewable energy, achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, and establishing higher carbon pricing as an effort to reduce emissions.
Ireland’s Greens also entered a centre-right coalition government with parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in 2020, given a €125 billion development plan. They had a variety of policy goals: Halve carbon emissions by 2030; expand public transport networks, including electric trains and more cycling lanes; ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030; and plant 8,000 hectares of forest annually. They marketed themselves as job creators, fostering innovation and addressing Ireland’s outstanding housing and public transport crises.
Successes:
The policies in Germany are often highlighted as a success. By 2022, over 46% of the country’s electricity was generated from renewable sources, returning the country to its track on meeting the 80% target by 2030. Carbon pricing was introduced at €25 a tonne, encouraging both firms and consumers to adopt cleaner systems. This combination of effective policies has placed Germany as a global leader in renewable energy.
Additionally, New Zealand’s Greens have also come across several policy wins: the passage of the Climate Change Commission Act in 2020 legally bound the country to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This agreement has fuelled the need for investments in clean energy and guided local governments to reduce emissions through urban planning – such as the wind farm development in Wellington and the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities – which provides innovative solutions to the urban development challenges.
In Austria, the Greens have also put forward policies that pushed through carbon taxes and increased renewable energy investment, which led to measurable progress. They managed to successfully incentivise the transition to clean energy, reducing fossil fuel reliance and setting the country on a path towards meeting its EU climate commitments (having agreed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, with 100% of the energy supply coming from renewables by 2030).
Shortcomings:
Despite promising policies, execution has not always matched expectations. Difficulties were created for the Irish coalition when the Greens set ambitious policies, and were faced with difficult opportunity costs and the need to cooperate with the other parties in power. The difficult implementation caused the party’s parliamentary representation to collapse entirely, receiving only one seat in the recent election and falling out of the coalition. By 2024, carbon emission hadn’t fallen near the 51% reduction target, whilst agricultural emissions (accounting for over 35% of Ireland’s total) proved much more difficult to address that expected, facing resistance from farming communities stalling reforms. Infrastructure also fell behind, shown through the Metrolink project in Dublin, a strong part of Ireland’s green agenda, which faced significant delays due to planning disputes and funding challenges. On top of this, afforestation efforts only planted 2,000 hectares per year, falling short of the promised 8,000. These perceived failures highlight the challenges of implementing large-scale initiatives within the constraints of coalition governance.
Ireland’s experience is not unique. Green parties across the globe have faced similar difficulties, with New Zealand’s agricultural sector also illustrating policy limitations. Despite being one of the country’s largest sources of emissions, the sector still remains exempt from carbon pricing, creating controversy that this undermines the effectiveness of the country’s net zero emissions agreement. Austria’s Green Party serves as another example, having similarly entered government in 2020 as junior partners to the conservative Austrian People’s Party. They achieved great achievements with effective environmental policies, but these were met at the expenses of immigration and tax reforms, creating divisions within their supporting groups.
While never the majority party, New Zealand’s Greens have managed to wield significant influence as coalition partners. In 2020, they secured the Climate Change Commission Act, legally binding the country to net-zero emissions by 2050. Despite this promising agreement, progress has been uneven. Agricultural emissions, which account for nearly half of New Zealand’s emissions, still remain exempt from carbon pricing policies, and the target of 100% renewable electricity by 2030 is criticised for lacking a clear strategy for industrial and transport emissions. Austria’s Green Party serves as another example. They also entered government in 2020 as junior partners to the conservative Austrian People’s Party and achieved significant achievements, such as including carbon taxes and increasing investment in renewable energy sources. However, their trade-off, which included prioritising these environmental policies at the expense of more progressive immigration and tax reforms, created divisions within their supporting groups. These examples prove the global difficulties that come with creating and putting into practice an effective policy that balances immediate environmental concerns with the social and economic realities of any country.
Evaluating Effectiveness:
Unlike centrist, conservative, or labour parties (which often prioritise economic growth and national security) green parties emphasise ecological sustainability. This focus can lead to tension when the policies inevitably conflict with broader governmental priorities – hence why the parties have only existed in coalitions. In terms of strategy, green parties advocate for long-term systemic changes, such as phasing out fossil fuels. Sadly, in all national governments across the world, the green parties do not have nearly enough voting power to compete against larger political groups; hence, they have often found themselves in a coalition, as a result of parties attempting to gain more support by grouping with the greens.
Some green policies, such as Germany’s carbon pricing and renewable energy targets, display the potential of how green initiatives can drive change. Yet others, like Ireland’s stalled projects, reveal how difficult it is for effective policies to be formed within the constraints of a coalition’s goals; green ideas often come with high upfront costs, with the OECD estimating that over 25% of jobs globally could be affected by the green transition, with low-skilled workers being particularly vulnerable. Operating in coalition governments, which green parties have been confined to till now, will always be a large challenge, since it inevitably dilutes the party’s ambitions and aims.
Green parties are undeniably moulding the global climate agenda, pushing for powerful goals that drive renewable energy growth and carbon reduction. Some countries have managed to showcase the transformative potential of their policies, while other examples highlight the many complications that come with implementation. To truly succeed, the parties need to focus on actionable policies that balance environmental goals with potential opportunity costs in the economy. Their role as catalysts for sustainability remains crucial, but their effectiveness will depend on their adaptability to coalition governance and ability to set efficient and undisputed policies.
Sources:
How Green-Party Success Is Reshaping Global Politics | Council on Foreign Relations
OECD urges governments to cushion green shift for low-skilled workers
A second black day for the Greens