The national climate target for 2030 is achievable!

The national climate target for 2030 is achievable – this is the conclusion of the greenhouse gas emissions data 2023 and greenhouse gas projections 2024, which were published last Friday by the Federal Environment Agency and to which IREES contributed.

According to the report, emissions in Germany fell by 76 million tons of CO2 in 2023 compared to the previous year – a decrease of 10.1 percent and thus the sharpest decline in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990.

The energy sector led the way here, with GHG emissions falling by around 51.8 million tons of CO₂ equivalents or 20.1 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, which is due to the reduced use of fossil fuels to generate electricity and heat.

IREES GmbH calculated the projections for the building sector. Here, a reduction in emissions of 8.3 million tons of CO₂ equivalents to around 102 million tons of CO₂ equivalents was achieved in 2023 (a reduction of 7.5 percent). Despite this reduction, the building sector will once again exceed the annual emissions permitted under the Federal Climate Protection Act (KSG) in 2030, this time by around 2 million tons of CO₂ equivalents (compared to the target value of 66 million tons in the KSG for 2030).
In addition to the expansion of heat pumps (resulting in less natural gas and heating oil being used), mild weather conditions in the winter months of 2023 and higher consumer prices are the main drivers of the decline in emissions.

Despite the good average development, there are still gaps in some sectors, for example in the transport sector.
Only with further decisive measures can we reduce CO₂ emissions together!

Further information on the UBA website: Climate emissions fall by 10.1 per cent in 2023 – biggest decline since 1990 | Umweltbundesamt

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck and UBA President Dirk Messner presented the projections at a press conference: BMWK – Treibhausgasemissionsdaten 2023 und Treibhausgas-Projektionen 2024

IREES – RESEARCH FOR FUTURE 🌍🍃