Government advisors say extensive subsidies needed to clean up Germany's transport sector

Germany needs purchase incentives and tax breaks for electric vehicles, a subsidy programme for cycling and walking, and a reduction in electricity tax for charging electric trucks to get the sector closer to its climate targets, a group of experts said in a report for the country’s transport ministry. But clean transport advocates said the "half-hearted" proposals revealed a lack of courage.

The Expert Forum on Climate-Friendly Mobility and Infrastructure (EKMI) – which included representatives from think tanks, research, and transport associations – presented 33 measures to better align the transport sector with climate, economic and social goals, based on agreements reached in the new government's coalition treaty.

Germany's transport sector is often referred to as the country's "problem child" when it comes to climate action, as emissions have remained stubbornly high for years. The EKMI's task was to explore policy measures which the transport ministry could use in an "emergency climate protection programme" to ensure the country can reach its climate targets.

Their proposals included:

• Boosting the electrification of private mobility, for example by introducing tax incentives for EVs, increasing price transparency at charging stations, and improving conditions for bidirectional charging.
• Reducing emissions in road freight transport by extending the industrial power price to the transport industry, excepting low-emission trucks from tolls, and supporting hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. But the expert forum didn't reach a consensus on the climate contribution of European CO2 limits for trucks.
• Keeping the flat-rate "Germany ticket" for local public transport, supporting cycling and walking funding programmes, and creating more park-and-ride and car sharing opportunities in rural areas.
• Modernising rail infrastructure and establishing waterway infrastructure as being of "overriding public interest" to accelerate construction projects.

The group could not quantify the carbon-saving effect of implementing the measures, it said. The transport ministry is set to present its proposals for a climate-friendly transport sector to environment minister Carsten Schneider by mid-September. The environment ministry is working on a new climate protection programme with measures to put the country on track to reaching sustainability targets, which it aims to present by the end of 2025.

Clean transport association VCD said the report was based on the mistaken underlying assumption that emissions could be sufficiently reduced solely by incentivising clean technologies, without touching fossil fuel subsidies or undermining combustion engines.

"The Commission does not want to touch the climate-damaging tax privileges for company cars, diesel fuel and mileage allowances," said VCD head Michael Müller-Görnert. He also criticised that the experts stuck to the "illusion" of synthetic fuels. "This thwarts transformation measures, costs taxpayers a lot of money and ultimately cements the fossil fuel world of yesterday."

"Most of what the EKMI has come up with has been on the table for years. There is still no plan for how to implement all this," Müller-Görnert said. "Politicians must finally have the courage to implement uncomfortable measures, instead of commissioning one report after another."

The government 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. Missing emission reduction targets by 2030 could cost Germany 13 – 34 billion euros, as the government will have to try to purchase emissions allocations from other EU member states that overachieve their targets, think tank Agora Energiewende has said.