Leaked Climate Action Programme draft falls short of closing Germany’s 2030 emissions gap – media

Proposals included in a leaked draft of Germany’s Climate Action Programme fail to clearly show how the government plans to close remaining emission reduction gaps by 2030, Tagesspiegel Background and Table.Media reported. “Hardly any of the necessary measures listed have been secured with funding, and important areas have been left out,” Table.Media wrote after analysing the draft.

Germany’s Climate Action Programme is the main policy framework covering a mixture of policies, legislative changes and other regulatory measures to put the country on track to meet its climate targets in 2030 (a 65% greenhouse gas emissions reduction compared to 1990 levels) and 2040. The government is legally required to adopt a comprehensive programme by 25 March this year.

Cutting emissions in the transport and buildings sectors has proven to be particularly challenging for Germany. Both sectors are projected to overshoot their emissions budgets significantly through 2030, which could lead to a costly EU target miss, and require special attention in the programme. 

However, the draft leaves questions open around policy proposals such as planned reforms of Germany’s so-called heating law, the country’s carbon price in the transport and buildings sector in 2027, the expected impact of a new electric vehicle subsidy programme for low-income households, and assumptions on future CO2 limits for passenger cars – all of which would affect emissions in the coming years, Tagesspiegel Background reported. Negotiations within the government on the draft are still ongoing, the environment ministry told the outlet. 

Germany’s federal administrative court recently ruled that the government’s Climate Action Programme adopted in 2023 requires additional measures to comply with the country’s emissions reduction target for 2030.

According to the latest emissions projections data from early 2025, Germany would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 63 percent by 2030 – and only if all current policies are fully implemented, an outcome experts consider questionable.