German industry investments in climate protection increase 74% over 10 years – Destatis

German industry is increasingly investing in climate protection measures, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), which kicks off on 30 November. Climate protection investments in the manufacturing sector have increased by 74.3 percent over a decade. In 2021, manufacturers spent some 4.15 billion euros on systems to avoid emissions or use resources more sparingly, up from 2.38 billion in 2011. Legal regulations and government funding have contributed to the increase in investments, Destatis notes. Nearly 50 percent of climate protection investments in 2021 — 2.04 billion euros — went to renewable energy sources, including wind turbines and photovoltaic systems.

Companies invested a further 1.63 billion euros (39.2%) in increasing energy efficiency and energy saving, such as thermal insulation of buildings or systems with combined heat and power. The manufacturing and service sectors generated sales of 53 billion euros with climate protection products in 2021 – an 11.9 percent increase compared to the previous year. The solar sector saw the biggest sales increase in 2021 with a 24 percent boost (920 million euros) for a total of 4.8 billion euros. From 2011 to 2021, sales of climate protection products – such a solar PV arrays and insulation – rose 16 percent. Nearly 55 percent of sales, or 28.6 billion euros, came from measures to increase energy efficiency in 2021. Thermal insulation of buildings contributed substantially, generating almost 10.2 billion euros in sales, while the manufacture and installation of wind turbines resulted in revenue of 11.8 billion euros. Meanwhile, the number of employees in “green jobs,” increased by 44 percent between 2011 and 2021. German development bank KfW recently reported that climate protection investments by domestic companies in 2022 rose by 18 percent in real terms to 72 billion euros.