Climate protection made in Germany

The fight to save the climate: Climate expert Falco Uckerdt explains Germany's role in the international fight against climate change.

Germany supported the creation of a solar power plant in Ouarzazate.picture-alliance / Photoshot

German policy is guided by values clearly stated in the Basic Law. 

Germany also defends these values ​​internationally: At the 2015 Climate Conference in Paris, the heads of state and government of 150 countries committed to keeping the Earth warming below 2 degrees Celsius. Falko Jukerdt, National Team Leader for the Energy Transition Program at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Change (PiK), explains Germany's role in achieving climate targets.

How should the global economy change in order not to exceed the upper limit of two degrees?

In order to keep the warming below 2 ° C, global CO2 emissions must fall to zero by 2070 at the latest, so so-called CO2 neutrality must be achieved. If the remaining CO2 budget, that is, the entire amount of emissions still allowed, is evenly distributed among the entire population of the world, industrialized countries will have to become climate neutral by 2050 due to higher CO2 emissions per capita.

At the EU level, Germany is playing a key role and is campaigning for the agreed target of EU-wide climate neutrality by 2050, ”- Falko Jückerdt. For the electricity sector, this means further expansion of the renewable energy sector and the rapid elimination of the remaining coal, and ultimately the production of electricity from natural gas. But even these measures only cover just under a third of greenhouse gas emissions. Otherwise, decisive climate protection measures must be taken in the areas of transport, housing, industry, and agriculture.

At the EU level, Germany plays a key role and campaigns towards the agreed target of EU-wide climate neutrality by 2050

Falco Jukerdt

How do you assess Germany's commitment to climate protection in the EU?

At the EU level, Germany plays a key role and advocates for an agreed EU-wide climate neutrality target by 2050. Germany is now committed to tightening its climate target for 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent (compared to 1990). As a result of tightening the EU target, Germany will increase its own emission reduction target for 2030, so that it is likely to exceed the EU-wide target.

What is Germany's international role?

Germany promotes global technology transfer by increasingly combining industrial and climate policies. In particular, innovative electrification technologies are likely to become key global technologies. Electrification means in this case the use of renewable electricity in the transport, construction, and industrial sectors, as well as digital communication management in these sectors. These include electric vehicles, heat pumps, electric furnaces and heaters for industrial processes, and hydrogen and synthetic fuels. Moving towards global climate neutrality will create economic opportunities and new markets, especially for countries and companies that have pioneered climate protection.