Germany’s electricity production in 2024 will be the “cleanest ever”, with renewables accounting for 62.7% of the total, according to a new study.
This change is due to an increase in green energy and a decline in coal-fired power generation, and is part of a long-term trend in which Germany has halved emissions from electricity generation since 2014.
Despite differences in political opinion on how to make energy more environmentally friendly, reductions have been achieved in many areas, said environmental economist Andreas Röschel of Ruhr-University Bochum.
“The general theme of the energy transition has never been questioned. It has been supported by all parties for more than 30 years. This is quite unique and shows the general dedication of the German people. I think it reflects that,” Rochelle said. Chair of the government’s expert committee monitoring the energy transition.
But the situation is changing as Germany prepares for snap elections in February. The far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which came in second place in the poll, says it will end its decarbonization efforts and carbon neutrality plans within the next 20 years.
Currently, the country’s established political parties are refusing to consider forming a coalition government with the AfD, so it is unlikely that the party will come to power.
Nevertheless, Germany’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming, stalled somewhat last year. It fell 3% to a historic low, but the decline was much slower than the 10% decline in 2023.
The pure mathematics of carbon emissions
In 2022, Germany accounted for approximately 1.75% of global carbon dioxide emissions. By comparison, China, the world’s largest emitter, accounted for just under a third of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere in the same year. Another third was made up of countries producing more than 2%, including the United States, which accounted for about 13%.
Hannah Ritchie, deputy editor and chief scientist at Our World in Data, a scientific platform affiliated with the University of Oxford, said: “The final third is entirely made up of countries that produce less than 2% of global emissions. ” he said. “If you add up all the small emitters, they emit more than China.”
This is one reason why even developed countries with relatively low emissions, such as Germany, need to keep working on decarbonisation, she said, adding: If we don’t wake up, this won’t work.”
And despite the progress Germany has made, it remains one of the world’s top 10 emitters. Germany, home to just over 1% of the world’s population, will emit an average of approximately 7.1 tons per person in 2023, far exceeding the global average of 4.7 tons.
moral lens of responsibility
Analysts also argue that, as one of the first countries to industrialize, Germany has an obligation to clean up its act. At its peak in the late 1800s, the country was responsible for about 17% of the world’s carbon emissions.
“Our past emissions are much higher than today’s emissions. They have given us a much higher standard of living,” Ritchie said.
And because CO2 can linger in the atmosphere for 300 to 1,000 years, emissions from industrialization in countries like Germany, the United Kingdom, and France are still warming the planet and impacting the lives of people far away. I’m giving.
World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international organization that tracks the relationship between global warming and extreme weather events, found that climate change contributed to 26 events studied in 2024. These were associated with at least 3,700 deaths and displacement of people. Millions more.
The extreme weather events studied by the organization include heatwaves in Asia and Europe, heavy rains in India, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Spain, droughts in South America and Italy, wildfires in Brazil and Chile, and storms in the United States and Philippines. It will be done. Among other things.
Countries in the Global South, which burn fossil fuels, have not yet industrialized and are least responsible for the climate crisis, are hit hardest by extreme weather events.
“We have contributed to this problem of global climate change,” Ritchie said. “Therefore, there is a lens of moral responsibility, whereby we should try to use our wealth and high standards of living to reduce emissions.”
energy for the future
In the early 2000s, Germany used its wealth to boost the uptake of solar power with government subsidies and pioneer the then-new technology to reduce emissions.
“Without Germany’s renewable energy policy, photovoltaic technology would not be used all over the world and would not have become a major success and development factor for many countries around the world,” Rochel told DW. Ta.
It added that Europe’s largest economy should continue to focus on reducing emissions to foster clean technology innovation in other regions.
“We have shown that it is possible for developed countries to meet the challenge of climate change, develop technology and develop system solutions that prove this does not cause economic decline or loss of competitiveness. ” he said.
Under current domestic law, Germany is obliged to reduce emissions by 65% from 1990 levels by 2030. In addition to helping the country meet its climate goals, David Reifisch, head of promising finance at environmental and rights NGO Germanwatch, said: A proactive approach also serves other national interests.
“We see that renewable energy, especially wind and solar, batteries, electrolyzers, etc., are all following the same path as successful technologies in history. Therefore, the chances of these technologies being successful are “Very high,” he said.
“It is in Germany’s interest to invest in the technologies needed for transformation and to become a world leader and competitive in this field.”
Editor: Tamsin Walker
