The German Federal Climate Change Act (Klimaschutzgesetz, KSG) establishes national climate targets in Section 3: a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to 1990 levels by at least 65% by 2030, at least 88% by 2040, and the achievement of net greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045. Annex 2a sets out the annual emission budgets (see also Section 5(1), sentence 2) for the sectors energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture, waste management, land use, land-use change, and forestry.

Past and projected GHG emissions are reviewed annually by the independent Expert Council on Climate Issues (Expertenrat für Klimafragen). In the event that climate targets are not met, Section 8 of the KSG regulates the procedure for cross-sectoral exceedances: the Federal Government must adopt measures that ensure compliance with the aggregate annual emissions budgets for the respective years. In addition, Section 9 of the KSG requires every Federal Government to adopt a climate action programme no later than 12 months after the beginning of a legislative period.

In this context, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) develops and submits its own policy proposals and is responsible for assessing proposals from other ministries as well as recommendations from industry and civil society with regard to their climate mitigation impact.

Furthermore, various ministries will put forward proposals within their respective areas of responsibility for the further development of the European regulatory framework. In these cases, it is necessary to assess both proposals from the European Commission and those from the ministries with regard to their impacts and to evaluate the extent to which they are consistent with Germany’s climate targets.