For decades, Germany has forged a reputation as an environmental powerhouse: a sustainable world leader in recycling and renewables, whose citizens care deeply about protecting the planet. But in many ways, that popular green tale is being exposed as fable. The decision to turn off nuclear reactors before closing coal plants has sullied the country's climate credentials among clean energy advocates. The diligent recycling culture has lost its shine, as separate waste bins have sprung up across Europe and public faith in recycling has taken a hit. The progress so far has been driven by a shift in power generation from fossil fuels to renewable energy, which contributed 59% of the country's electricity last year. Together with savings from industry, which in the past few years has wasted less energy but also cut production, it has let Germany compensate for failing to clean up sectors such as transport, buildings and agriculture. Though the hardest climate challenges are yet to come, analysts say Germany enjoys better institutional conditions to cope with them than most rich polluters. Popular student protests since 2019, which have dwindled less in Germany than elsewhere in Europe, persuaded all major parties except those on the far right to agree to stop the planet from heating 1.5C (2.7F) by the end of the century.