NGOs demand clear funding and finance strategy as part of upcoming German Climate Action Programme

An alliance of environmental NGOs headed by the umbrella organisation DNR has called on the German government to include a “clear cross-sector finance strategy” in the planned Climate Action Programme 2026. It had to ensure the country provides sufficient funding and promotes the consistent reduction of climate-damaging subsidies in favour of climate investments.

In recent years, Germany has laid a good foundation for effective climate action – from the increasing share of renewable energies and the growing effect of EU emissions trading to ambitious car emission fleet limits and the Building Energy Act, said the organisations. However, the government had announced and supported changes that would weaken exactly these instruments. “This would be a disastrous move, as even the measures taken so far are not sufficient to close the existing gap to achieving the targets,” they said.

In addition to the finance strategy, the NGOs call for measures for the consistent electrification in industry, buildings and transport, as well as effective measures in agriculture and the land use sector (LULUCF).

Germany’s government is legally required to adopt a comprehensive programme of measures by March 2026 that puts the country on track to meeting climate targets. The programme will include new proposals, alongside measures the new government proposed in its coalition agreement or has already adopted in its first months in office.

The latest emissions projections show that Germany is not on track to meet its climate targets, especially for the post-2030 period. Cutting emissions in the transport and buildings sectors has proven to be particularly challenging for Germany. Both sectors are projected to overshoot their emissions budgets significantly for the years until 2030, which could even lead to a costly EU target miss.