Germany must speed up its transition to renewable energy in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident, writes Norbert Röttgen, the German environment minister, in an opinion piece. He says Germany can lead the way with a successful shift into green power that will boost its economy.

Twenty-five years ago, on April 26, 1986, Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. More than a month ago, following a severe earthquake and a devastating tsunami, there was a nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. That second disaster has now joined Chernobyl in being categorized as a “major accident,” the highest category on the international scale used to assess the severity of nuclear events. Both disasters mark historic turning points.