No EU country on track for 2030 climate goal, Germany ranks second to last – report

The current emissions reduction and energy transition plans by all of the 28 EU member states do not indicate that any of them will reach their 2030 climate target - but there is still enough time to adjust these plans, according to a report commissioned by the European Climate Foundation* (ECF) and carried out by the Ecologic Institute. Spain and France lead the ranking with a score of 52 and 47 percent achievement probability respectively, whereas Germany comes in second to last with a score of 12.5 percent, only trailed by Slovenia with a score of 3 percent. “While Germany’s plans contain an above-average goal for energy efficiency and climate goals for 2030 and 2050, clear information on planned measures and corresponding investments is lacking,” the ECF said in an e-mailed statement.

After recognising that the country will likely miss its 2020 emissions reduction target by a wide margin, the German government initiated several measures to improve the country’s climate action record. Besides installing a commission that agreed on an end date for coal-fired power production by 2038 the latest, the government also started to prepare a Climate Action Law with sectoral emissions targets as well as an intra-government climate cabinet that is supposed to forge a consensus between relevant ministries. At the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel set the country on track to aim for “climate-neutrality” by 2050.

*The Clean Energy Wire is a project funded jointly by the European Climate Foundation and the Mercator Foundation.