Northeastern Germany tops climate neutrality ranking

Three states in northeastern Germany have come out on top in a WWF ranking of the federal states’ readiness for climate neutrality. The environmental NGO examined indicators relating to the expansion of renewable power, the transport and mobility transition, the buildings sector as well as land use and environmental production.

Brandenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania performed best overall, according to the ranking. All three states have a high share of renewable power, while Brandenburg simultaneously achieves a high modernisation rate for its buildings and a high share of renewables in final energy consumption, the NGO said.

The three states at the bottom of the ranking of the country’s 16 federal states were the city state of Hamburg, southwestern Baden-Wurttemberg, and central state Hesse. The NGO described affluent Baden-Wurttemberg’s second-to-last ranking as“disappointing”, as the state that has been governed by the Green Party since 2011 “generally fares badly in the Germany-wide comparison,” despite some success in rolling out heat pumps and charging points for electric mobility. Hesse, meanwhile, ranked last due to its poor performance regarding land use and environmental protection and a particularly poorly developed cycling infrastructure. 

“The economic, geographic, and demographic conditions in the 16 states may differ greatly. But the results clearly show that the political will of their respective state governments is decisive,” WWF commented. The NGO’s German climate division head, Viviane Raddatz, said that so far, no state had achieved a fully satisfactory approach regarding the energy transition and climate neutrality. “We require a significant push to get Germany as a whole on track,” she said.

Raddatz added that the federal government plays a key role in this respect. Countrywide planning security for renewable power technologies such as electric vehicles or heat pumps are essential for a successful roll-out in each state, she argued. 

Germany’s states have limited authority when it comes to climate and energy legislation. The power to make laws on the energy industry, transport sector and emissions lies largely with the federal government in Berlin. However, the states are often responsible for implementing climate action, and they can for example pass bills that specify or toughen efficiency rules in their own building and planning laws. As all the state governments are also represented in the Bundesrat, the second parliamentary chamber of Germany, they also have a say on the federal bills passed.