Germany has used up its CO₂ budget for 2018 – gas industry initiative

By 28 March Germany had already used up its annual CO₂ budget for 2018, one week earlier than last year, according to the natural gas industry initiative Zukunft Erdgas. “The reason for this is the climate strategy of the government, where the measures take effect only in the distant future. But we must save CO₂ today,” said Timm Kehler, director of Zukunft Erdgas, a lobby group that promotes the use of natural gas instead of other fossil fuels to help protect the climate. In a 2017 study, researchers calculated Germany’s share of global carbon emissions in line with keeping the temperature rise well below two degrees Celsius. Based on this data, Germany is allowed to emit 217 million tonnes of CO₂ in 2018, according to Zukunft Erdgas. If Germany emits about the same total amount this year as in 2017, its budget is now used up, said the initiative.

Find the press release in German here, and a factsheet on the calculations in German here.

For background, read the CLEW article Energy sector drives slight drop in German emissions in 2017 and the CLEW factsheet Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions and climate targets.