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BERLIN Germany’s greenhouse gases emissions increased by just 5% last year compared to 2020, UBA reported in its annual report. This was because Europe’s largest economy had recovered from the coronavirus epidemic.
According to the agency, although emissions rose last year, they were 39% less than 1990 levels.
This report will be an urgent addition to plans by the three way government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz for almost doubling the share of renewables to around 80% by 2030. It also intends to wean the economy from oil and gas imports from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
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Germany exceeded its 2020 emissions reduction targets by 40%, compared with 1990 levels. It also reduced them by almost 41% due to a sharp decline in economic activity during pandemic.
UBA will present its report Tuesday. It found that Germany produced 762 million tonnes (CO2) last year, 33 M tonnes more than 2020.
The report revealed that transport and buildings exceeded their emission targets, while industry and agriculture met them.
Germany plans to reduce its emissions by 65% by the decade’s end, compared to 1990 levels.
The Economy Ministry will announce plans by Easter that outline concrete steps to achieve this goal.
This strategy will include increasing electrification in the transport sector, improving energy efficiency, building a hydrogen production capacity, and expanding wind farms rapidly.
Robert Habeck, Economy Minister, has not ruled out Germany failing to meet its climate goals until 2023 when steps to transition the economy to a CO2-free future will start to show results. (Written by Joseph Nasr; Editing done by Jan Harvey, Jane Merriman).
