The German Federal Cabinet on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 approved the “Climate Protection Report 2018”. Accordingly, Germany is expected to emit around 32 percent less greenhouse gases in 2020 than in 1990. In comparison, in 2017 the reduction was 27.5 percent.
Progress is expected in the energy sector by 2020, partly because of the successful reform of EU emissions trading. However, this progress has been partially offset by higher emissions from transport and buildings.
Environment Minister, Svenja Schulze, said: “Despite some progress in the energy transition, Germany has not yet reached its target for climate protection in recent years. We will learn from the omissions of the past, so that Germany does not miss its climate goal again. We need more courage and commitment in climate policy.
“That is why I will present a climate protection bill that makes compliance with our climate goals more binding. The report also shows how urgent it is for the Federal Government to take new climate protection measures. For the coal exit, there is now a good plan on the table, which must now be linked to a targeted energy transition policy. The expansion of renewable energies and grids must move faster.”
In 2014, the Federal Government had for the first time quantified a gap in the achievement of the 2020 climate protection target. To conclude this, the “Climate Action Programme 2020” and the “National Energy Efficiency Action Plan” (NAPE) were decided at that time. The progress is reported in annual climate protection reports.
The “Climate Protection Report 2018” comes just eight months after the resolution of the “Climate Protection Report 2017”. It is based partly on the same data basis and therefore draws a similar picture. Accordingly, the approximately 110 measures adopted in 2014 yield between 43 and 56 million tonnes of CO2. Originally it had been calculated with 62-78 million tons. As a result, without the action programme in 2020, Germany would only get 28-29 percent instead of a 32 percent reduction.
After successfully reforming European emissions trading, higher allowance prices are more than expected, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, emissions in the building and transport sectors are stagnating at a high level, rather than declining as originally expected.
The federal government had originally set itself the goal for 2020 of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent compared with 1990 levels. Last year it became clear that this goal can not be achieved on time. For 2030, a target of 55 percent applies. The coalition agreement stipulates that the federal government is launching a package of measures to ensure that the climate target for 2030 is reliably achieved and that the gap to reach the 40 percent target is closed as soon as possible.
