The gaps in German climate policy

By Sabine Schlacke and Ottmar Edenhofer

Sabine Schlacke, Co-Chair of the Steering Committee WPKS; Judith Pirscher, State Secretary at the BMBF; Birgit Schwenk, Head of the Climate Protection Department at the BMWK; Holger Hanselka, Vice-Chair of the WPKS Steering Committee (from left to right) at the handover of the statement.

Even after the agreement reached by the coalition committee, the German government’s climate action plans leave many questions unanswered. Germany needs a comprehensive long-term strategy to achieve its climate targets – but there is no such strategy. The German Science Platform Climate Protection (WPKS) explains which points it should include.

Only with a comprehensive, long-term strategy can Germany achieve its statutory net zero targets by 2045. The legal and political foundations may have already been laid: There is the Climate Action Plan 2050, the Climate Action Program 2030, the Climate Change Act, and the energy policy resolutions from 2022. But the Climate Action Plan and Climate Action Program are outdated and need to be revised.

Sign up now and continue reading immediately