Markus Wacket
BERLIN, (Reuters) – Germany’s greenhouse gases emissions increased by just 5% last year compared to 2020, UBA, the federal environment agency, said in Monday’s annual report. This is as Europe’s largest economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
The agency stated in its report that although emissions increased last year, they were still 39% lower 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.
Germany exceeded its 2020 emissions reduction targets by 40%, compared to 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 showed that transport and buildings exceeded their emission goals, while industry met theirs.
Germany is aiming to reduce its carbon emissions by 65% in the next decade, compared with 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 Germany out of its climate goals until 2023 when steps are taken to transition the economy to a CO2-free future.
(Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Jan Harvey, Jane Merriman)