The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has called on Germany to act more ambitiously in order to actually become greenhouse gas neutral by 2045. “In the past, we were too slow when it came to climate protection. We must now make up our minds to catch up,” said Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) at the presentation of the OECD’s economic and environmental report on Monday in Berlin. “We can only achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045 if we act in a timely and continuous manner.”
The OECD appealed to the federal government to accelerate the implementation of existing climate measures and to take new measures – especially in sectors that have not met their targets. The experts see a particular need in the transport sector. So there must be more public investment in rail transport – especially in local public transport, in order to improve the connection of sparsely populated areas to urban centers.
Above all, the focus is on the transport sector
In the past year, the transport sector clearly missed the legal targets for CO2 emissions. The construction sector is also one of the largest CO2 emitters in Germany.
For the first time, the economic report and the environmental assessment report of the OECD were presented together and handed over to both Economics Minister Habeck and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens). “Today, economic and climate protection policy can only be thought of together and must be shaped together,” said Habeck.
With a view to the current economic challenges, the OECD praised the good crisis management in German politics – for example in the measures taken in the corona pandemic and the energy crisis. In the coming year, she expects a slight increase in gross domestic product of 0.3 percent and a growth rate of 1.3 percent for 2024.
