Germany could miss industry sector climate target in 2021 – researchers

Due to a significant increase of coal use, greenhouse gas emissions from Germany’s industry and energy sectors look set to rise this year compared to 2020, and industry might even miss its sector climate target, said researchers from the Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut) based on an extrapolation of energy consumption data for the first half of 2021. While experts have anticipated rising emissions following the pandemic-induced dip last year, it remains to be seen whether this would cause Germany to miss targets in certain sectors. The researchers emphasised that the results are subject to high uncertainties and could not be seen as a projection. However, energy consumption data for the first half of this year published this week by the energy market research group AG Energiebilanzen allows a “first, cautious look” at possible full-year emissions, writes Öko-Institut. The results would mean that the industry sector misses its 2021 greenhouse gas reduction target stipulated in Germany’s Climate Action Law by almost 20 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The energy sector does not have a 2021 target. However, assuming a linear reduction from the 2020 to the 2022 target, the sector would miss its theoretical 2021 greenhouse gas reduction target by 8 million tonnes.

While Germany does not have a sector-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2021, this year’s efforts are key to staying on path for the aim to cut emissions by 65 percent by 2030. However, the country's energy use in the first half of this year exceeded 2020 levels, as the economy recovers from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, figures by energy market research group AG Energiebilanzen (AGEB) showed. As fossil energy use increased, energy-related CO2 emissions rose by 6.3 percent compared to the same period the previous year.