Germany plans to cut climate emissions by 40%
Thu 26 April 2007
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Germany has announced an eight-point climate change action plan, promising to cut the country's greenhouse-gas emissions by 40% before 2020. This is double the amount pledged by the EU as a whole and goes beyond the EU's commitment formulated by EU leaders at their Spring Summit in March.
Berlin's Climate Agenda 2020 calls for a "transformation of the industrial society" and explicity rejects the use of nuclear power. To reach its 40% target (a reduction of 270 million tonnes of CO2), the proposal outlines eight measures:
• Modernising power stations (-30 million tonnes);
• doubling the amount of combined heat and power use (- 20 million tonnes);
• increasing the share of renewables in electricty production to 27% (- 55 million tonnes);
• cutting electricity consumption by 11% (-40 million tonnes);
• improving energy efficiency of buildings (-41 million tonnes);
• using more renewables for heating (-14 million tonnes);
• increasing fuel and engine efficiency in transport and more use of biofuels (-30 million tonnes), and;
• reducing emissions of other (non -CO2) gases such as methane or F-gases.
The investment costs for these plans would be €3 billion, whereas climate change could lead to damage costs of €137 billion, according to a report from the German Government.
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