German ministry tables ban on new oil and gas projects in protected maritime zones
The German environment ministry has submitted for consultation a draft law prohibiting future oil and gas extraction projects in protected zones of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, energy policy newsletter Tagesspiegel Background reported. Environment minister Carsten Schneider from the Social Democrats (SPD) has made an end to future licensing a prerequisite for his ministry’s consent to an existing project on the Dutch-German sea border off the island of Borkum.
The gas extraction project run by Dutch company One Dyas straddles both countries’ territories, meaning authorities in Germany and the Netherlands had to issue permits. The project only received the go-ahead after several delays due to lawsuits challenging its legitimacy on the grounds of potential damages to the sensitive ecosystem of the Wadden Sea. Minister Schneider approved the agreement with the Netherlands in October, but he demanded that it be followed by a law banning new permits for oil and gas drilling in protected maritime zones. Renewable power installations and the extraction of sand and gravel would still be permitted under the environment ministry’s draft law, Tagesspiegel Background reported.
The law changes originally published in late September would tighten regulation on fossil fuel extraction in several areas in Germany’s sections of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, but environmental groups warned during the consultation that legal loopholes would still allow companies to circumvent bans. Environmental Action Germany (DUH) said in a statement to parliament that projects could still receive licensing if they are classified as being of “overriding public interest.” This gives authorities flexibility in interpreting which projects could still get the go-ahead in the future, as happened with the One Dyas project, DUH argued. Extractive industries lobby group BVEG said the law would “generally value oil and gas extraction lower than maritime protection,” which would mean a disadvantage for industry interests.
Germany covers around five percent of its gas demand from domestic supplies, which have been falling since the early 2000s. New gas projects are unlikely to significantly alter the share of domestic production in total gas supply.
Environment ministry moves to ban gas drilling in Germany’s marine protected areas
Clean Energy Wire / dpa / Reuters
The take-up of electric cars gathered speed last year in Germany. Registrations of purely electric cars rose 43 percent versus 2024, when sales took a dip following an abrupt end to purchasing subsidies, according to the motor vehicle authority KBA. Compared to 2023, last year's sales of around 545,000 electric cars were up a mere four percent.
"While the figures point at first sight to an electric boom, in fact strong growth in 2025 merely compensates for the collapse in sales in 2024," transport analyst Constantin Gall for the EY consultancy told newswire dpa. The government plans to introduce a new subsidy for electric cars this year.
Overall, new car registrations rose 1.4 percent to 2.9 million, according to KBA. The share of battery-electric vehicles rose to 19.1 percent of all new registrations last year. Average CO2 emissions of new cars fell by almost 12 percent, to an average of 105.8 grammes per kilometre.
Car industry associations and researchers told newswire Reuters in an article carried by energy and climate newsletter Tagesspiegel Background they expect this share to increase to 25 percent in 2026.
Sales of electric vehicles in Germany lag well behind earlier government plans to bring the number of EVs on the road to 15 million by 2030. The high average price of new electric vehicles is a major obstacle to their mass adoption because it often limits purchases to drivers with a higher income.