German climate programmes insufficient for reaching targets – government report

Climate action programmes introduced by the current and previous grand coalition governments under chancellor Angela Merkel aren’t enough for Germany to reach its greenhouse gas reduction targets, the 2021 climate protection report published by the environment ministry confirms. Measures and programmes introduced by the government in previous years – such as the Climate Action Programme 2030, which was agreed in 2019 – are inadequate for reaching Germany’s 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target of -65 percent compared to 1990 levels. They are not even enough to reach the old, less ambitious target of -55%, which was in place until earlier this year. The report takes into account all measures agreed by August 2020 and says Germany is on track to reduce emissions by 49-51 percent by 2030. In addition, Germany’s Climate Action Programme 2020, initiated in 2014 to ensure the country met its 2020 greenhouse gas emission targets, was a lot less effective than planned. The report says the programme managed to reduce emissions by 42.2 to 51.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, while the goal was to reduce them by 62 to 78 million tonnes.

An annual climate protection report is part of the requirements laid out in the country’s climate action law. This year’s version summarises data already published in previous documents, such as the latest emissions projection report, which showed that Germany’s efforts are far from enough to reach 2030 and 2040 climate targets.