German govt to propose higher renewables targets in climate emergency programme

Germany’s government coalition of chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) is aiming for higher renewables expansion targets for 2030 as part of its upcoming “Climate Emergency Programme 2022”. A draft of the programme seen by Clean Energy Wire states that the government assumes a need of 95 gigawatt (GW) of onshore wind capacity – up from the current 71 GW target – and 150 GW of solar PV capacity (current target: 100 GW) by 2030. The programme also includes additional funding of 8 billion euros for issues such as the energy-efficient modernisation of buildings, e-car buyer’s premium and the climate-friendly transformation of industry. With the emergency programme, the government says it wants to “significantly increase the dynamic” of the transformation needed to reach its more ambitious climate targets in the early 2020s. The programme is currently only a policy proposal and it is unclear whether much of it can be put into action or legislation before the September national election.

In anticipation of what will be needed to support new EU goals, and following a landmark ruling by the constitutional court, the government in record time decided to increase Germany’s climate goals and pull forward the target of climate neutrality to 2045. The emergency programme is meant to jump-start the transition and make reaching more ambitious 2030 targets realistic.