Germany slips in climate progress ranking due to plans for new gas plants
Clean Energy Wire
Germany has dropped six places to 22nd in the annual Climate Change Performance Index compiled by an NGO consortium, due to government plans for new gas power plants and a weakening of climate policy. It is the country’s worst ranking in six years.
“Particularly disappointing is Germany's lower ranking in climate policy, which is now classified as ‘moderate’,” said co-author Jan Burck of NGO Germanwatch. For national climate policy, Germany was even rated as "poor" by the experts. Burck called on the government to propose an ambitious climate action programme in the coming weeks.
Announcements from last week showed that Germany’s governing coalition parties have reduced plans for new gas-fired power plants to be built over the coming years to serve as a backup for intermittent renewables while the country phases out coal. The government plans to hold auctions next year for state support to build plants with a combined capacity of 10 gigawatts by 2032 – compared to earlier plans to build up to 20 gigawatts by the turn of the decade.
Still, the organisations warn that the planned gas power capacity risks a fossil fuel lock-in. In addition, they criticise government plans to weaken a law to phase out fossil fuel heating, as well as the EU ban on new combustion engine cars by 2035.
NGOs Germanwatch and the Climate Action Network International (CAN) as well as NewClimate Institute annually evaluate and compare the performance of dozens of countries in the categories greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, energy use, and climate policy.
Germany is nearly on track to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target, with rapid progress in the expansion of renewables making up for the lagging transport and heating sectors. The country's electricity system has never been cleaner, partly due to a weak economy and a fall in manufacturing.
The government is currently working on a comprehensive Climate Action Programme. It is legally required to present a programme of measures in all sectors to ensure that the 2030 and 2040 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets are met. It must approve the programme by March 2026 at the latest.
In a separate Green Transition Tracker 2025 by Allianz, Germany ranks 15 out of 69 countries. The report indicated that progress worldwide has accelerated, but major investment gaps remain.
