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...
As the world faces the impending threat of climate change, it is paramount to study successful examples of policy change to inspire and replicate the same worldwide. An excellent case study is Germany’s Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL), an organisation that has transformed the policy landscape through its dedicated environmental advocacy. This article will take a...
According to the report published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in 2021, Germany spent approximately 5.4 billion euros (5,97 billion dollars) on fossil fuel subsidies in 2019, including direct and indirect subsidies. According to the data provided by the OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels: Country Notes, the German government’s...
Despite its high population density, Germany is among the top four agricultural producers in the European Union – producing 50 billion EUR worth of agricultural products each year. As the EU’s largest milk producer, Germany dedicates about 50% of its agricultural land use to grazing and feeding the country’s 200 million farm animals (producing milk,...
Looking Back 2022: The Energy Crisis Looking Forward 2023: The Threat of Recession and Its Impact on Energy Use Without a doubt, the most transformative climate change event in Germany this year was the energy crisis – triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This initial conflict and Putin’s refusal to back down in the...
Germany has more than 48 million passenger vehicles on the road. This means that for every 10 inhabitants in Germany there are 5.8 passenger vehicles on the road, of which 34% of the owners are women and 32% are over 60 years of age.Last year, almost 1 million (907,000) new vehicles were registered. However, this...
Germany is experiencing a major impact from climate change at all levels of its economy and society resulting in considerable loss and damage. This year drought has intensified and has been classified as severe, as shown in the image below of the UFZ (Helmholtz – Zentrum für Umweltforshung) monitor, which shows the state of soil...
One of the most significant events in Germany’s overall emissions this year was the invasion of Russia into Ukraine.Not only did this event disclose Germany’s major dependency on the Russian energy supply, but it also triggered a still ongoing debate on military rearmament and cooperation and long-term partnerships with controversial countries. Countries, that before were...
Increases in overall energy sector emissions, industrial and transport sector emissions (annual statistics); increases in monthly purchases of hybrid vehicles; decline in gross share of renewable energy within gross electricity consumption; and no change in the prices of CO2 for transport and buildings.Energy Sector: 12.4 % increase from 2020 to 2021 Emissions More coal was...
