The Expert Council for Climate Issues has checked the calculation of German greenhouse gas emissions. The results are to be published this Monday. Specifically, it is about the numbers of the Federal Environment Agency. According to this, the emission of climate-damaging greenhouse gases fell slightly in 2022. However, more greenhouse gases were emitted in traffic and in the building sector.
The Expert Council for Climate Issues examines the greenhouse gas emissions data compiled by the Federal Environment Agency, which are presented annually in March for the previous year. The council consists of five independent experts – the director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Hans-Martin Henning, is currently the chairman.
According to calculations by the Federal Environment Agency, greenhouse gas emissions in Germany fell slightly by 1.9 percent in 2022. According to this, around 746 million tons of greenhouse gases were released, a good 15 million tons less than in 2021. According to the UBA, emissions in Germany have fallen by 40.4 percent since 1990. The figures from the UBA are provisional – definitive figures will not be known until the beginning of next year.
criticism from environmental organizations
In the transport sector, however, greenhouse gas emissions increased slightly according to the UBA. There was even a significant increase in the energy sector. Savings in natural gas were given as the reason for this – instead, the industry increasingly relied on hard coal and lignite, but also on more renewable energies.
The Expert Council also scrutinized the resolution paper of the coalition committee from the end of March, in particular the controversial reform of the climate protection law. In the coalition committee at the end of March, the SPD, Greens and FDP agreed on a 16-page paper that, among other things, provides for a relaxation of the climate protection rules. In addition to railway lines, certain motorway projects intended to eliminate bottlenecks are also to be accelerated. We are talking about 144 projects.
Environmental organizations accused the traffic light coalition of softening climate protection rules. In particular, with the abandonment of the obligation to implement each individual sector goal, the Climate Protection Act will be gutted.
