Greenhouse gas emissions in Germany again fell short of the targets set by the Climate Protection Act and barely decreased in 2025.
Emissions decreased last year by only 0.1% compared to the previous year, according to data from the German Environment Agency.
The country’s emissions in 2025 were equivalent to 649 million tons of CO2, worse than those forecast by the Agora Energiewende think tank, which predicted a 1.5% year-on-year drop.
In 2024, a more significant drop of 3.4% was recorded.
German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider criticized the lack of improvements at a conference in Berlin on Saturday.
The Social Democrat said that despite a growing acceptance of electric cars and heat pumps, overall progress was “too slow” and urged citizens to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy sources for both environmental and safety reasons.
“What benefits the climate also increases our security and economic strength,” he said. “Every additional kilowatt-hour of renewable energy makes our country less dependent on oil and gas and our energy supply more secure.”
Despite this, both Schneider and the German Environment Agency remained optimistic that the country could reach the 2030 climate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 65%, compared to 1990.
Schneider welcomed the “growing enthusiasm for climate protection technologies” such as electric cars and heat pumps.
“And there are more newly approved wind energy projects than ever before. This gives hope that progress will accelerate again in the coming years,” he said.
Emissions will have to decrease by an average of 42 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year from 2026, more than 40 times the reduction recorded last year, to meet the 2030 reduction target.
In 2025, Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions were 48% below the 1990 base year level.
Schneider said it was “particularly urgent” to reduce emissions in the transport and construction sectors – where emissions increased last year – to avoid the costly purchase of emissions allowances from other EU member states or fines.
Achieving climate goals in Germany, a priority for the previous government of Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, appears less certain under conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
His government, which has been in power since May 2025, has instead advocated relaxing environmental regulations.
Germany is Europe’s largest economy and manufacturing power, and globally it is behind only the economies of the United States and China in size.
