The fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 was a pivotal moment for Germany, when it became a new republic, unifying East and West Germany after decades of separation throughout the Cold War.

Likewise, when TT became a republic in 1976, after 14 years of independence, a new nation's citizens could manage their own destinies through their own head of state, instead of continuing under British rule.

With both countries celebrating the births of their nations – TT having celebrated Republic Day on September 24 and Germany celebrating Unification Day on October 3 – newly-appointed German Ambassador to TT Christophe Eick wants both countries to see the challenges they share, and how they can unite to make significant changes in the world, just as significant changes were made in both nations.

Business Day talked to Eick at the German Embassy in St Clair, Port of Spain on September 26. He spoke on the similarities between Germany and TT, the shared challenges the two countries face and the opportunities that could be shared.

Shared challenge

Eick said one of the most apparent challenges that TT and Germany share is the global challenge of climate change and energy transition.

Eick said both countries are seeking to tackle the global challenge of energy transition, and although they are meeting it on different levels, they still face similar issues, one of which is dependency on fossil fuels.

"Energy transition is something that has to happen, but it certainly is a big challenge," Eick said. "It certainly is for countries that have depended on oil and gas for quite some time. I can very much understand that for TT it is something that is a challenge and there might be a different pace of transition."

He noted Germany's involvement in the development of TT's oil and gas sector, with the German company Proman operating in TT for 30 years – building infrastructure and leveraging natural gas.

Eick also noted the challenges that Germany faces with its own dependency on fossil fuels, particularly with natural gas.

On the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, Germany sought to break off its relationship with Russia, which oversaw the supply of natural gas to Germany and Europe via the Nord Stream and gas company Gazprom. Gazprom has since been nationalised and renamed SEFE and has been engaging in relationships with several countries around the world to ensure they are not dependent on Russia’s natural gas.

“This was a big lesson for us, which is that we should not be dependent on one supplier, because look at what happened. Obviously, we could not continue with this business model with Russian companies. We have ended this completely and this has certainly accelerated our transition – the Ukraine/Russian invasion moment which made us realise that we need to transition faster.”

The separation from Russian gas was not seamless, however, with several countries in Europe, including Germany, resorting to firing up coal-fired power plants to meet their energy needs in winter. According to reports, Germany has beg