Germany’s GHG emissions hit a seven-decade low in 2023 as the country continues to phase-out coal-fired power in its electricity mix.
The EU’s biggest economy produced 673 tonnes (t) of GHG emissions last year, 73t less than in 2022 and its lowest since the 1950s, a study from German thank tank Agora Energiewende has found.
Carbon dioxide emissions were approximately 49 million tonnes below the 772 million-tonne annual target set out in the country's Climate Protection Act.
The fall in emissions last year is largely due to a reduction in Germany’s coal-fired power capacity. Coal power generation fell to its lowest level since the 1960s, the study found, which itself reduced CO₂ emissions by around 44 million tonnes despite Germany’s Government announcing plans in October to keep coal power plants online for one more season in a bid to meet rising winter demand.
A drop in overall electricity demand for the year and an increase in foreign energy imports, approximately half of which came from renewable sources, also contributed to a reduction in coal power generation.
Emissions from industry also fell “significantly” by around 11%, principally because energy-intensive sectors reduced production in line with domestic and global economic crises.
However, the study also found that just 15% of the total CO₂ saved can be counted as “permanent emissions reductions” because only this portion of cuts came from permanent, low or zero-carbon infrastructure change. More than half of reduced emissions were an incidental result of unpredictable social or economic activity and cannot therefore be considered “sustainable from an industrial or climate policy perspective”.
CO₂ emissions from the transport and building sectors remained almost totally unchanged, with both sectors missing their climate targets by some margin. This failure to reduce emissions from two critical industries means that Germany “will likely miss its climate targets agreed under the European Union’s effort sharing regulation”, authors of the study warned.
Simon Müller, director of Agora Energiewende, said: “2023 was a two-speed year as far as climate protection in Germany is concerned: the energy sector notched up a climate policy success with its record level of new renewable power, taking us closer to the 2030 target.
“However, we don’t consider the emissions reductions seen in the industrial sector to be sustainable. The drop in production due to the energy crisis weakens Germany’s industrial base. If emissions are simply shifted abroad as a result, this won’t benefit the climate… The positive deployment trends of renewables need to be reinforced in the coming year,” he added.
Germany did break records for its renewable power installations in 2023. Installations of solar energy in particular managed to meet government targets, with wind power also seeing record uptake but falling short of climate goals largely due to long and complicated permitting rules.
