Most Germans doubt country will meet own 2045 climate neutrality target – survey

Most people in Germany say they do not think that the country is going to meet is national climate target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, a survey commissioned by newspaper Die Zeit has found. Just under one-third (29%) of respondents said they expect Germany to meet the target that the new coalition government again vouched to pursue. More than two-thirds (67%) said they do not expect the target to be met, while five percent said they either could not or did not want to answer. With 33 percent saying they are confident about hitting climate neutrality on time, women were significantly more optimistic than men (24%). However, 74 percent of men and 60 percent of women said they do not think the country will achieve climate neutrality as planned.

Besides gender, party affiliation had an even stronger effect on expectations. While 58 percent of Left Party and 42 percent of Green Party voters said they are confident about Germany meeting the target, this was true for merely 18 percent of Social Democrat (SPD) voters and just ten percent of far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) voters. About one in four (26%) voters of the conservative CDU/CSU alliance of new chancellor Friedrich Merz said they expected the target to be met.

Germany brought forward the target of becoming climate neutral to 2045 following a landmark court ruling which found that the country's climate legislation was insufficient and lacking detail on emission reduction targets beyond 2030. As a result of speedy renewables expansion in recent years, as well as a weak economy and lower energy use, Germany is largely on track to reach its emission reduction targets by the end of the decade. The European Union as a whole aims to reach climate neutrality by 2050. This means that all aspects of society, from heating to mobility and industry to agriculture, need to cut greenhouse gas emissions, with any excesses being compensated for.