ABSTRACT
There is now a widespread view that the threat of climate change requires systemic socio-technical transformations. We know a lot about success conditions for leader and pioneer states with regard to individual technical innovation. But what do pioneership and leadership look like in complex transformation processes? The chapter examines conceptually what kind of policy interventions, instruments and processes are required to pioneer an environmental transformation. These theoretical insights are applied to the German energy transition (Energiewende) with a particular focus on electricity generation and the built environment. During a first transformation phase (1990 to 2009) the German energy transition can be regarded as an example for both domestic pioneership and international leadership. In this phase, changes affected mostly the electricity sector. During a second phase (2011 to 2020) the economic impacts and the fundamental change required by a deep decarbonisation became more visible. At that time, the political struggle about the transformation intensified and Germany became a largely symbolic leader without an ambitious domestic climate policy. The analysis shows that pioneering socio-technical transformations internally as well as promoting them externally is a challenging task because transitions are path-dependent, embedded and prone to social conflict. While the multilevel governance system sometimes triggered the watering down of the overall ambition, more often, it provided opportunities and incentives to upload innovative approaches and thus reinforced leadership ambitions.
