“2020 climate goal will be missed”

Germany will significantly miss its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels unless the government quickly implements additional measures beyond its Climate Action Programme from 2014, according to a study by Institute for Future Energy Systems (IZES). The gap to reach the 2020 target is even bigger than current government projections predict, according to the study commissioned by environmental organisations BUND, Climate-Alliance, Oxfam, WWF and Greenpeace. “Overly optimistic assumptions about the future development of emissions are the reason for this large discrepancy,” writes BUND in a press release. The five organisations demand, among other things, a faster exit from coal-fired power generation. “Nobody can be under the illusion that the climate goal is attainable without shutting down more coal power plants,” said Greenpeace climate expert Karsten Smid.

Read the BUND press release in German here and the final report in German here.

Read the CLEW article Ministry projections highlight risk of Germany missing emissions goal.