Political climate ripe for boosting cross-border collaboration on green transition efforts
When finished in 2029, the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link will be the world’s longest immersed tunnel connecting Germany to Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia. But what could become a great accelerator of the green transition, connecting knowledge and expertise across borders, still faces challenges. This report proposes, however, that with the political change in Germany a window of opportunity to promote German-Scandinavian integration has opened, thus reducing barriers that currently inhibit the potential of the link.
In light of the recent German election, ‘A Window of Green Opportunity’ examines the current value-proposition for Germany to upscale cross-border collaboration on green growth as a regional development strategy in its northern territories. The time is ripe to seize momentum of the greening policies, which are a cornerstone of the current political roadmap, including taking steps to utilize regional development as a catalyst to position Northern Europe as a testbed for green tech and sustainable infrastructure. Bringing such advantages to the forefront of attention to the national level and converting the agglomeration benefits to local stakeholders outside the larger cities, are two crucial steps to strengthen the visibility of regional development initiatives on the national level to align regional and national interest; attract a skilled workforce and green investments; and strengthen local support for regional integration.
A tunnel, in itself, is nothing more than a piece of infrastructure. The report is now setting a task to develop the underlying political initiatives that will transform the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link into a success story for the green transition.
You can read the full report including an executive summary here:
