German ministry keeps proposals to lower heating emissions under wraps

Germany's interior ministry has finalised an emergency programme to get emissions in the building sector in line with climate targets but will not say whether it will be published, energy and climate newsletter Tagesspiegel Background reports. The ministry told the publication it had passed on the action programme to other relevant ministries, with a spokesperson adding he could not say whether its publication was planned. The emergency programme had become mandatory this week because emissions in the sector exceeded the budget set in the country's Climate Action Law by two million tonnes last year. NGO Environmental Action Germany (DUH) criticised the "non-transparent" process, adding that time was running out to achieve emissions reductions in the sector. The government's Council of Experts on Climate Change told Clean Energy Wire it had received the plan and would publish an evaluation by 15 August.

German homes are a big hurdle on the path to greenhouse gas neutrality as they are responsible for around one-third of the country’s emissions. Nearly two-thirds of the buildings are still heated with fossil fuels, and most of them also need to be modernised to lower energy demand. The government aims to have a 'nearly' climate-neutral building stock by 2050 after emissions in the sector have stagnated for nearly a decade.