Climate action in Germany: Latest state of play

Briefing 10-06-2021

The EU's binding climate and energy legislation for 2030 requires Member States to adopt national energy and climate plans (NECPs) covering the period 2021 to 2030. Germany submitted its NECP in June 2020. In October 2020, the European Commission published an assessment for each NECP. A high proportion of Germans (63 %) expect national governments to tackle climate change. Germany accounts for 24 % of net EU-27 emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Since 2005, emissions have steadily decreased, following the average trend in the Union. The carbon intensity of the German economy is falling, also mirroring the EU pattern. Energy industries are the largest source of emissions, responsible for 29 % of total emissions. Under EU effort-sharing legislation, by 2020 Germany was required to reduce its emissions by 14 % compared with 2005. However, the country exceeded its allocated emissions from 2016 to 2019. Germany's current 2030 target under the Effort-sharing Regulation (ESR) is to reduce emissions by 38 % from 2005 levels. According to the Commission's assessment of Germany's NECP, with the new proposed measures the reduction will fall short of the target by 3 percentage points. In 2019, renewable energy sources accounted for 17.4 % of gross final consumption, just 0.6 percentage points short of the target set for 2020. Following a court ruling on 24 March 2021, which found that the Climate Change Act was not aligned with fundamental rights, the German government announced its intention to strengthen its commitment, aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045.