Germany is set to miss its greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2020 and 2030 by a wide margin unless significant steps are taken such as a proposal to exit the use of coal-fired power.
The German environment ministry’s new emissions forecast shows that the country must introduce additional climate action measures in all economic sectors to reach its goals.
Clean Energy Wire reports the calculations do not yet take into account the coal commission recommendations to exit the fossil fuel by 2038 at the latest, or plans by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to ramp up renewable energy expansion.
Germany also comes near bottom in a European Union-wide analysis that showed that none of the 28 countries was on track to meet the 2030 target.
Germany will miss its greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2030 in all economic sectors, if no additional climate action is taken, according to a report on Germany’s emissions projections for the years until 2035, commissioned by the federal government.
The projections take into account all climate measures decided by the middle of 2018.
Clean Energy Wire reports it does not include a commission proposal to gradually phase out coal by 2038 at the very latest.
The goal of the coalition government to expand renewable energy to cover 65 per cent of electricity consumption in 2030, and additional renewable energy auctions are also not included, as this had not been passed into law at that time.
Germany also came second to last in a report commissioned by the European Climate Foundation (ECF) and carried out by the Ecologic Institute that showed the current emissions reduction and energy transition plans by all of the 28 EU member states do not indicate that any of them will reach their 2030 climate target, but there is still enough time to adjust these plans.
Germany will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent by 2020, falling short of the national target of 40 per cent, according its government’s report.
Ten years later, international and European agreements require the government to bring down emissions by at least 55 per cent below 1990 levels.
However, the data indicates Germany is on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by only 42 per cent.
With it clear that Germany would miss its national 2020 goal, the country is now under increasing pressure to meet its EU target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent by 2030.
To bridge the gap between climate targets and current emission trends, Chancellor Merkel has introduced a “climate cabinet” to ensure more progress on emissions reduction.
The group of ministers with key responsibilities related to climate issues are supposed to come up with a package of legislation to ensure Germany reaches 2030 climate targets, to be introduced by the end of the year.
Possible climate action measures that the cabinet is set to discuss now also include carbon dioxide pricing.
Germany must present an in depth report on its future emissions to the European Union every two years.
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