CAPTION: Germany's emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases rose by 4.5 percent last year. (picture alliance / Geisler-Fotopress)
Germany's emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases rose by 4.5 percent last year, according to preliminary figures. This means that even one year later, Germany is still failing to meet the 2020 target of 40 percent less greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990, according to data presented Tuesday by the German Environment Agency (UBA) and the Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection. Emissions fell by only 38.7 percent compared to 1990.
The figures are still preliminary - final values will not be known until the beginning of next year. According to the figures, Germany emitted a total of 33 million metric tons more climate-damaging gases in 2021 than in the previous year. The transport and buildings sectors were above the annual emission levels set out in the Federal Climate Protection Act.
"Almost half of the 2020 reduction in greenhouse gas emissions has already been lost," Dirk Messner, president of the UBA, lamented. "Our figures clearly show that the German government's targets must be addressed as quickly as possible." Some of the lower 2020 emissions were attributable to the coronavirus pandemic which led to declines in mobility and production, according to earlier data from the German Environment Agency.
Germany has set a goal of becoming greenhouse gas neutral by 2045. This means that the Federal Republic would then have to avoid or recapture all greenhouse gases. The coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the Free Democrats (FDP) wants to significantly drive forward the expansion of renewable energies from wind and sun.
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