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The 2022 Climate Action Report adopted by the federal cabinet today shows that the pace of climate action is picking up in Germany. However, further efforts remain necessary in order to meet the 2030 targets.
The annual report is based on section 10 (1) of the Federal Climate Change Act, and presents the development of greenhouse gas emissions in Germany and the status of implementation of the climate action programmes and the emission reductions achieved by them. Almost all of the measures in the Climate Action Programme 2030, which was adopted in autumn 2019, have already been or are now being implemented. Further to this, the Federal Government has also adopted further measures oriented to the new climate target: Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by 65% by 2030 (compared to 1990).
The report also makes it clear what massive efforts will still be needed and how the pace of change has to speed up significantly. Greenhouse gas emissions in Germany must fall much more quickly than has been the case. In 2021, they were down by 38.7% from the 1990 level. Following a significant decline in 2020, due not least to the pandemic, emissions rose again in 2021. In 2021, around 762 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents were released – over 33 million tonnes or 4.5% more than in 2020, but still less than the 800 million tonnes released in 2019.
At the beginning of July 2022, the Bundestag and Bundesrat adopted the largest package of energy legislation for decades. This expedites the expansion of renewable energy across the board: on water, on land and on roofs. By 2030, at least 80% of Germany’s gross electricity consumption is to be covered by renewable sources. This signifies a massive acceleration in renewables expansion. Around 600 TWh of electricity is to be sourced from renewable energy in Germany in 2030. In the heating sector, the federal funding for energy-efficient buildings was concentrated more on retrofitting at the end of July 2022, and funding was shifted away from fossil-fuel-based heating systems, as these areas offer the greatest savings.
The decisions on the expansion of renewables were backed up by decisions taken by the EU Energy Ministers Council on 27 June 2022. For example, the Council agreed for the first time on a binding EU energy efficiency target and a new ambitious EU renewables target of 40% by 2030.
The Federal Government is currently coordinating a comprehensive immediate climate action programme in order to get the whole of climate policy on track. The Federal Government will keep its promise made in the coalition agreement to conclude by the end of 2022 the main acts, ordinances and measures needed to attain the climate targets so that they can take effect on 1 January 2023.
There is an urgent need to keep up the pace on climate action: the negative repercussions of climate change are increasingly being felt in Germany too. Rising temperatures also mean more droughts and heavy rain events here, sometimes with disastrous effects for people, the environment and the economy.
