Corona: greenhouse gas emissions significantly lower - climate targets still achievable due to virus

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Cyclists and joggers in May on the otherwise busy Straße des 17. Juni in Berlin

Despite all the tragedy, the corona crisis has also produced winners - this has been shown several times in the past few months. One of them could be the climate. According to a forecast in the climate protection report for 2019, which the federal cabinet is due to adopt on Wednesday, the German climate protection targets for this year could still be met.

It is not yet possible to determine exactly by how much greenhouse gas emissions have decreased. This is "currently still fraught with uncertainties and cannot yet be precisely predicted," says the report. But since the emissions in 2020 "are likely to be significantly lower", the goal of 40 percent fewer greenhouse gases than in 1990 could still be achieved. In fact, the federal government had already written off this requirement.

As Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) announced in the spring, almost 54 million tons less greenhouse gases were emitted in Germany in 2019 than in the previous year, a decrease of 6.3 percent. In total, it was 805 million tons of CO2 equivalents and 35.7 percent less than in 1990. In order to achieve the 2020 target, emissions would have to drop to around 750 million tons. 

The industrial sector fell by 3.7 percent or 7.3 million tons of CO2. Savings, albeit to a lesser extent, were also made in agriculture. However, the problems still lie in the building heating and transport sectors. An increase in emissions of 4.4 percent or a good five million tons of CO2 was recorded for buildings, and an increase of 0.7 percent or 1.2 million tons of CO2 in traffic. For both sectors, CO2 pricing will apply from 2021, initially with an entry price of 25 euros per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted.

Criticism of the government

In addition to the dramatic corona consequences for health and the economy, the EU emissions trading, in which the energy sector and parts of industry trade in pollution rights, "make a higher contribution to reducing emissions than expected six months ago," the report says.

With these and other measures "we will further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and modernize German industry," said the economic department. This should ensure that the 55 percent reduction in emissions, to which Germany has committed itself for 2030, will also be achieved and that "all sectors will make their contribution".

"The Federal Government must openly admit that it will not achieve its 2020 climate protection target on its own"

Green leader Annalena Baerbock

Criticism of the report came from the Greens. "The federal government must openly admit that it will not achieve its 2020 climate protection target on its own," said Green leader Annalena Baerbock. "Only through the corona crisis could she possibly still achieve this - and nobody can really be happy about that." That is the receipt "for years of idleness" of the grand coalition.

"With the drought and heat, we are once again experiencing that the climate crisis does not stop just because the corona crisis is here," warned Baerbock. An offensive of renewable energies is now needed - binding land targets for the expansion of green electricity or solar systems as the standard for every new roof are measures that can be tackled immediately.

Several environmental associations are calling on the federal government to improve its climate protection program. The umbrella organizations Naturschutzring and Climate Alliance warned against "putting your hands on your lap" because, contrary to expectations, Germany could still achieve its climate target for 2020.

joe / dpa / AFP