Environment agency calls for more ambitious climate targets – media report

The German Environment Agency (UBA) has called to raise the country’s greenhouse gas emission reduction target for 2030 to 70 percent over 1990 levels (current target: -65%), Spiegel reports. UBA also aims for the coal power phase-out to be brought forward from 2038 to 2030. In an unpublished report seen by Der Spiegel, the UBA says a faster transition to a climate-neutral economy is necessary for Germany to comply with the climate target set out in the Paris Agreement. Other recommendations include an annual increase in onshore wind power capacity of 7 gigawatt (GW) and in photovoltaic capacity of 10 GW and, in industry, a complete halt to coal use by 2040, an increase in the use of green hydrogen and improved energy efficiency. In the building sector, it calls for an immediate ban on new oil heating systems and a ban on new gas heating systems from 2026. Combustion engines should be banned for new cars by 2035. The CO2 price for petrol and diesel should also be higher than previously planned. The UBA also calls for annual meat consumption to be reduced from around 60 kilogrammes per capita at present to just under 16 kilogrammes.

Currently, Germany aims to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2045 and has set its preliminary target of cutting emissions by at least 65 percent by 2030 and 88 percent by 2040. The ambition of Germany's national climate targets can be raised but not lowered, says the Climate Action Law.