Berlin, Germany | AFP
Greenhouse gas emissions in Germany were almost unchanged in 2025 with a 0.1 percent decrease compared over the previous year, the environment ministry said Saturday, bemoaning the progress as “too slow”.
Emissions were equivalent to 649 million tonnes of CO₂, worse than those forecast by the expert group Agora Energiewende which anticipated a 1.5 percent drop year-on-year.
Despite this, the ministry said it was still possible to achieve the 2030 climate target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent compared with 1990.
But emissions would have to “fall by an average of 42 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year” from 2026 onward, more than 40 times the reduction recorded last year.
In 2025, Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions were 48 percent below the level of the 1990 base year.
The ministry said it was “particularly urgent” to reduce emissions in the transport and building sectors to avoid the costly purchase of emission allowances from other EU member states or fines.
Environment Minister Carsten Schneider, a Social Democrat, nevertheless welcomed the “growing enthusiasm for climate protection technologies” such as electric cars and heat pumps.
“And there are more newly approved wind power projects than ever before. This gives hope that progress will once again pick up speed in the years to come,” he added.
The pursuit of climate targets, a priority for the previous government of Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, appears more uncertain under the mandate of conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
In power since May 2025, the Merz government has instead advocated easing environmental standards.
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