Opposing view: Germany is on track to meet our targets
One year ago, the European Union ratified the Paris Agreement and pledged to reduce its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions by 40% relative to 1990. Emissions have already dropped by
23% in 2016 — on track to meet the
2030 target. Germany, the EU’s largest economy, has reduced emissions by
28% and is contributing significantly and above par to the EU’s common goal.
In 2016, the share of renewables in all electricity produced in Germany reached a new all-time high of almost
32% (vs. 15% in the United States). Solar, wind and biomass have allowed us to reduce our carbon footprint by
160 million tons of carbon dioxide, or roughly the annual emissions of the U.S. state of Georgia.
Even so, recent estimates also show that German emissions have gone up slightly, by 0.4% last year. What happened and what does this mean?
Apart from the wind and sun, Germany’s primary domestic source of energy has been coal. In the integrated European electricity market, our coalfired power plants do not just fill the gap on cloudy days but also export record amounts of excess electricity to our neighbors. But Germany’s major political forces agree on a phaseout in the medium term: By law, the first five plants will go offline by 2019.
Just as coal was essential for Germany’s industrialization in the 19th century, renewables are powering our businesses and jobs in the 21st. For Germany’s manufacturers, the digital and the energy transformation are two sides of the same coin: Eventually, coal will go the way of the typewriter.
Chancellor Angela Merkel called climate change the “key challenge for humanity” when speaking to delegates at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn last week. An overwhelming majority of Germans agree and support an ambitious energy transition to keep our manufacturing base competitive. The message to the world is clear: Together with our partners, we are not shying away from challenges but working to solve them in the framework of the Paris Agreement.