Germany must act now to reach its 2020 climate protection targets

Until now, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has not been the driving force behind climate protection, and if the party continues to govern with the Social Democrats (SPD) after this year’s election, a rapid coal exit would be a real surprise, Birgit Marschall writes in an opinion piece in General Anzeiger. “It is shameful that Germany, the land of the energy transition with such a large share of renewable energy, has at the same time such a poor carbon footprint,” Marschall writes. Germany‘s CO₂ emissions have not declined despite its ambitious political goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. The country has so far reached 27 percent, and it will not reach its target unless the government accelerates the coal exit by immediately shutting down its 20 oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants, she adds.

Read the opinion piece in German here.

Find further information about Germany’s climate targets here.