Government report to confirm Germany will widely miss 2020 climate target

The government’s Climate Protection Report 2017 will confirm that Germany is set to miss its 2020 national climate target by a wide margin. A draft, seen by the Clean Energy Wire, says that the country will only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent compared to 1990, instead of the 40 percent aimed for. An internal paper of the environment ministry from October 2017 had already warned that Germany would only achieve 31.7 to 32.5 percent. In 2014, the government had initiated a "Climate Action Programme". The programme's measures, however, were not enough to close the gap to the 2020 goal, due to “the unexpected dynamic economic development and the unexpected significant population growth”, writes the government in the upcoming report. The government is now working on a programme for 2030 target, based on Germany Climate Action Plan 2050, says the draft. Green Party co-head Annalena Baerbock told the Clean Energy Wire that the report "documents the political standstill" of the governing grand coalition, and called on the new coal exit commission to initiate the quick shutdown of coal power plants. The report is set to be decided by the cabinet on Wednesday, 13 June.

For background, read the CLEW article Germany set to widely miss climate targets, env ministry warns.