For years Germany was seen as a climate pioneer, pledging steep CO2 cuts and achieving steady reductions. Since the conservative-led government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office in May 2025, however, momentum has slowed. Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) has backed new gas-fired power plants, and a previously strict law promoting renewable heating was significantly weakened.
Presenting the 2025 climate report, Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) said Germany is meeting legal limits, but only marginally. Greenhouse gas emissions fell by just 0.1% last year; measured in CO2 equivalents total emissions were 648.9 million tonnes — roughly 12.8 million tonnes under the legal cap. Schneider warned that progress remains too slow and pointed to a relatively windless year, which forced gas plants to fill gaps, and a colder winter that raised heating demand.
Germany aims for a 65% reduction in greenhouse gases versus 1990 levels by 2030; it has so far achieved a 48% cut. Further goals include an 88% reduction by 2040. Dirk Messner, president of the Federal Environment Agency, said the priority remains a rapid energy transition: faster expansion of renewables, more storage and grid capacity, broad electrification of transport and buildings, and scaling up a hydrogen economy.
Transport and buildings are the main problem areas. Electric vehicles accounted for about 19% of new car registrations last year, so the majority of cars still run on petrol or diesel and Germany trails some peers. The heating sector has also weakened: the previous center-left government had required that 65% of new heating systems use renewable energy, driving record heat pump sales. The current government has rolled back that requirement and will again permit installation of new gas and oil heating systems. Reiche, a former gas-industry manager, has been influential in that shift.
Schneider accepted the reform reluctantly, calling heat pumps a ‘beacon of hope’ and urging a transition away from oil and gas because they are worse for the climate and costlier long term. The Green Party, whose former economy minister Robert Habeck helped draft the earlier heating law, criticized the reversal. Green leader Felix Banaszak said Germany is losing climate momentum and that the CDU-SPD coalition is prolonging dependence on fossil fuels.
A reported 3.8% drop in industrial emissions last year largely reflected a weak economy and lower output in energy-intensive sectors such as steel, driven by high energy costs, rather than structural decarbonization.
Schneider plans to consolidate measures into a new climate protection law by March 25, but clashes with the Economy Ministry are likely. Reiche and the chancellor are pressing the European Commission to relax rules phasing out internal combustion engines, potentially allowing new petrol and diesel car registrations after 2035 — a move that would complicate Germany’s ability to meet its climate targets.
This article was originally written in German.