Climate policy pioneer

Germany aims to become a climate-neutral industrial nation by 2045. This puts the Federal Republic at the forefront of international efforts to combat theclimate crisis. The planned energy transition is key to success, involving a rapid shift from fossil fuels to renewables. Germany has already phased out nuclear power, the last three German nuclear power plants having been shut down in 2023. It has also decided to phase out coal-fired electricity generation by 2038 at the latest.

Germany’s climate policy is guided by the UNFCCC, the 2015 Paris Agreement, as well as by the 2030 Agenda and the principle of climate justice. Under the Paris Agreement, the international commu­nity set itself the target of keeping global warming well below two degrees Celsius and below 1.5 degrees if possible. The Federal Government Federal Government The Federal Government and cabinet is made up of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. While the Chancellor holds the power to issue directives, the ministers have departmental powers, meaning that they independently run their respective ministries in the framework of those directives… Read more › considers this climate protection target a “top priority”. In order to achieve it, the government intends to restructure the social market economy Social market economy The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany does not call for any particular economic order. Yet it is firmly anchored in the principle of the welfare state and therefore excludes a purely free market economy. Since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 the country’s economic… Read more › into a socio-environmental market economy. Protecting nature and the environment have been high on the agenda in Germany for decades. Combating species extinction is a particularly high priority for the Federal Government.

Explicit guidelines for climate protection have been set down in law since May 2021. The law requires Germany to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions Roughly two thirds of global warming caused by humans (anthropogenic) can be attributed to carbon dioxide emissions. The gas is produced when the fossil fuels gas, oil and coal are burned. They all contain carbon which combines with atmospheric oxygen to form carbon dioxide. In addition to carbon… Read more › by at least 65% compared to 1990 levels by 2030. This figure is to reach 88% by 2040 and by 2045 Germany must ultimately achieve greenhouse gas neutrality. This means there is a balance between the generation of greenhouse gas emissions and their removal from the atmosphere.

There have already been substantial cuts to greenhouse gas emissions in Germany since 1990. By 2023 emissions were down by around 60% to 674 million tonnes. However, this figure must be reduced to 438 million tonnes at the most by 2030.

The energy transition is the defining project of this century and the Federal Government Federal Government The Federal Government and cabinet is made up of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. While the Chancellor holds the power to issue directives, the ministers have departmental powers, meaning that they independently run their respective ministries in the framework of those directives… Read more › intends to make decisive progress this decade. By 2030, 80% of Germany’s energy needs will have to be met by renewable sources such as wind or solar power. The original plan was to phase out coal by 2038 at the latest, but now this goal is ideally to be achieved significantly sooner. Coal-fired electricity generation is considered one of the most serious causes of harmful CO2 emissions.

Security and economic policy Economic policy In line with the federal system, structuring and coordinating economic and financial policy is the joint task of central government, the federal states and munici­palities. They cooperate in various committees. Furthermore, the Federal Government seeks the advice of independent economists. Every… Read more › concerns make it ne­cessary to implement the energy transition as quickly as possible. The Federal Government intends to use measures such as speeding up planning and approval proced­ures for solar and wind power facilities to support the restructuring of energy supplies.

Germany is strongly committed to global cooperation on climate protection. After all, the only way to achieve intended limits to temperature increases is through concerted action by the international community. One core element of this is the European Union European Union In 1957, Germany was one of the six founding members of today’s EU, along with France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The EU is currently made up of 27 states; the euro is the official currency in 20 of them. For Germany, European integration forms the basis for peace, security and… Read more › ’s Green Deal. It aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Germany’s support includes reforms to EU emissions trading and a CO2 price escalator, which will incentivise climate protection.

At the same time, the Federal Government Federal Government The Federal Government and cabinet is made up of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. While the Chancellor holds the power to issue directives, the ministers have departmental powers, meaning that they independently run their respective ministries in the framework of those directives… Read more › plans to forge further climate partnerships with other countries outside Europe, particularly in major emerging econ­omies. One benefit from these will be to help other countries phase out coal-fired electricity gener­ation. Furthermore, Germany is making more than six billion euros available for climate action and climate adaptation measures in developing countries, thereby donating its share of the pledge by industrialised states to provide more than 100 billion US dollars per year.

Following the Bundestag The Bundestag The Bundestag is made up of the elected representatives of the German people. In principle elections to the Bundestag are proportionally representative, with each party’s share of the vote in the election reflecting the number of seats it occupies in the parliament. But the electoral system also… Read more › elections Elections Every four years, the parties stand in the general elections to the Bundestag. Traditionally, the turn-out is high in Germany, and following a high in the 1970s, when the turn-out was over 90 percent, since reunification it has been around 80 percent. 76.6 per cent of eligible voters took part… Read more › in 2021, Germany’s climate foreign policy was reaffirmed as a key priority for the Federal Foreign Office. In December 2023, the Federal Government adopted its first Strategy on Climate Foreign Policy, which combines the climate policy goals of the various ministries.

Germany is also committed to improving protection for the natural world and biodiversity, both at home and internationally. Since 1994, the Basic Law The Basic Law The Basic Law determines that Germany is a constitutional state: All state authorities are subject to judicial control. Section 1 of the Basic Law is of particular relevance. It stipulates that respect for human dignity is the most important aspect of the constitution: “Human dignity shall be… Read more › - Germany’s constitution - has required the state to protect the natural environment. The Action Plan on Nature-based Solutions for Climate and Biodiversity is one way the Federal Government Federal Government The Federal Government and cabinet is made up of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. While the Chancellor holds the power to issue directives, the ministers have departmental powers, meaning that they independently run their respective ministries in the framework of those directives… Read more › aims to boost efforts to maintain biodiversity (the diversity of genes, species and natural habitats). A total of 3.5 billion euros will be available from 2024 to 2027 for the programme, which aims to help protect or restore natural ecosystems such as forests, meadows and moorland.

Germany is also actively engaged in promoting species protection, such as under the Washington Convention. The Convention protects endangered plant and animal species from excessive exploitation by international trade. Around the world over a million species are threatened with extinction, with many at risk of dying out in the next few decades.