BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 3% in 2024 compared to the previous year, climate think tank Agora said in a report on Tuesday, attributing the decline to economic weakness, mild weather and successful climate policies.
Emissions in Europe’s largest economy dipped to 656 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent last year, marking a 48% decrease from 1990 and undershooting an annual cap by more than 5%, according to the report.
Germany is seeking to reduce overall emissions by 65% by 2030 compared to 1990, and the country’s 2024 emissions were 36 million tons lower than the annual cap stipulated by its Climate Protection Act.
Germany’s economic downturn has reduced industrial emissions, even as the transport and construction sectors in particular have done little to implement climate protection policies, according to the report.
However, recent climate protection measures in the electricity sector, such as increased use of renewable energy, are producing an ever-greater impact, said Agora director Simon Mueller, adding that record wind and solar energy production covered around 55% of consumption in 2024.
According to Agora, the growing share of renewables in electricity consumption “shows that climate policy works when it is implemented consistently.”
(Reporting by Markus Wacket, Writing by Friederike Heine; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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