Germany’s energy landscape has undergone significant transformation over the past decade, with renewables increasingly supplanting fossil fuels in the energy mix, especially when considering electricity generation. Although the statistics may vary depending on the source, one can see in the below graph (from the UBA Umweltbundesamt, the main German environmental protection agency) that as of...
Germany has experienced a series of extreme heat-related conditions, which have significantly impacted public health, agriculture, and the environment. These conditions include record-breaking temperatures, prolonged droughts, wildfires, and flooding. “Temperatures that can harm health have become more common in Germany. Six out of the eleven most extreme heat waves between 1951 and 2015 occurred after 2000. Since 1990, what were previously...
Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) History and Mission DUH was founded in 1975 and has since developed into one of Germany’s leading environmental NGOs. The organization focuses on environmental protection, nature conservation, and promoting sustainable development. DUH’s mission includes advocating for policies to address climate change, promoting renewable energy, and reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The...
Climate Scorecard’s 2024 Government Climate Leadership Award is presented to a country official who has done the most to reduce emissions in their country’s government over the past year. Below is a copy of the letter sent to each nominee and why they were chosen to receive this award.Germany 2024 Climate Scorecard Award: Dr. Robert...
There are a good number of important elections this year in Germany. First and foremost are the European Parliament representatives. In addition, the regional elections for the estate parliament in the eastern German states of Saxony, Brandenburg, and Thuringia also occur this year. Furthermore, local elections (Kommunalwahl) in seven states will take place as well....
Ideally, the policies directed to reduce a country’s emissions footprint and general development would go hand in hand with the social aspects of such transformation upfront, ensuring that the less capable not only also profit from the benefits. Still, they won’t be strongly affected by the related costs.In Germany, the Hans Böckler Foundation (Stiftung) has...
Among the many and diverse climate policies and programs driven at different levels in European countries (European, country, regional, and local), it seems difficult to choose a specific one as the most successful, and even more, that could be proven by results which happened directly in 2023; as usually, emissions measurement take some time to...
Munster Germany has advanced mitigation programs at the local and country levels. Few specific medium-sized cities have long-developed mitigation programs and policies. However, there is one that not only developed early on but has also developed a well-developed adaptation plan as well, and hence is my chosen one to be portrayed:Münster is a middle-sized city...
Dear Mrs. Annalena Baerbock, Foreign Minister (annalena.baerbock@bundestag.de) My name is Katherine Cote de Kalscheuer. I am the Country Manager for Germany for Climate Scorecard, a non-profit organization that monitors the climate policies and programs of leading greenhouse gas-emitting countries. Based on a review of Germany’s policies, we believe that much can be done to...
RATING A In Germany, the German Environment Agency (aka the UBA, Umwelt Bundesamt), founded in 1974, began developing a reporting system in the 1980s. In 1990, the Federal Republic of Germany passed a first cabinet decision on the first national climate target aiming to reduce GHG emissions by at least 25% below the 1987 levels...
