Since 1990, Germany has set ambitious climate protection and emissions reduction targets and invested heavily in renewable energy to meet national and international environmental goals. This commitment has made Germany a key leader in European climate policy and positioned it as a major player in international climate change initiatives. However, this environmental leadership faces challenges,...
Category: Germany News Brief and Action Alert
Forests Cover About 32.68% of Germany’s Land Area
Forests play a crucial role in the ecosystem, acting as carbon sinks, centres of biodiversity and sources of renewable resources. According to the World Bank, forests cover about 32.68% of Germany’s land area, or about 114,190 square kilometres in 2021. Over the past 30 years, Germany’s forest cover has remained relatively stable, increasing by around...
Renewable Energy Provided More than 65% of Germany’s Net Electricity Generation in 2023
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’s Public Health Programs that Address Extreme Heat Need to be Strengthened
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...
Leading Country Climate NGOs: Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH)
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...
Germany 2024 Climate Scorecard Award: Dr. Robert Habeck
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...
Multiple Elections in Germany Make It Hard to Predict the Impact on Climate Change Policy
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....
Germany Needs Tax Reforms to Achieve a Social-Ecological Transformation
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...
Germany’s Most Significant Policies in 2023: The Energiewende (The Energy Transition)
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...
Germany: Model Community Climate Mitigation Programs
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...