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Solar modules in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
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Jens Büttner / dpa
The federal, state and local governments would have to invest a lot more money in order to achieve the current climate targets.
This is the result of a study carried out by researchers at the Agora Energiewende think tank and the University of Mannheim on behalf of the Forum New Economy.
The public financial requirement to make the republic climate-neutral by 2045 will amount to around 460 billion euros by 2030 alone, according to the paper that is available to SPIEGEL.
That corresponds to around 1.3 percent of the gross domestic product of 2019.
The federal government has so far only estimated around 80 billion euros for climate protection, according to the survey.
This sum is to be invested until 2025. In addition, there would be investments by the federal states and municipalities that cannot be quantified.
The researchers divide the republic's funding needs into three main areas:
The
federal government
must invest around 90 billion euros in direct modernization measures.
By far the largest item in this area is the expansion of the public rail network.
According to the study, the
financial
requirements
for
municipal climate investments are
around 170 billion euros;
100 billion of this alone would have to flow into local public transport.
The
promotion of private investment
by the federal government would amount again to around 200 billion euros, they say.
Around half of this is earmarked for the promotion of energy-efficient renovation, another 25 billion for the decarbonization of industry, plus ten billion euros for additional green electricity systems.
The federal government wants to reduce Germany's greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent by 2030 and by 100 percent by 2045.
It is the first time researchers have estimated total government funding needs for these goals.
The authors rely on surveys for individual sectors and government investment programs. They only take into account investments that modernize the capital stock of the Federal Republic, not measures that only serve to maintain it.
