Germany at risk of missing climate targets after 2040, report finds

Germany is at risk of missing its climate targets from 2040 onwards, according to the German government's latest climate protection report.

The 2025 report, which has been obtained by dpa, is due to be approved by Cabinet in the coming weeks.

Germany aims to become carbon neutral by 2045, but the report found that the climate protection measures adopted to date are "insufficient" to achieve the targets for 2040 and 2045.

To reach its climate goals, the country must take "further transformation steps" in the medium and long term, according to the more than 450-page document, which was drafted by the Federal Ministry for Climate Action.

Germany is on track to reach its targets for the period up to 2030, according to the report. "If the climate protection measures decided upon to date are implemented, the total annual emission targets set out in the Climate Protection Act can be met between 2021 and 2030," it states.

However, this is conditional on the measures being implemented consistently and on adjustments being made in the event of new developments, for example a sharp rise in energy demand.

The report also highlighted the building and transport sectors as particular obstacles to achieving the climate targets.

In the transport sector, the "most effective starting point" for a significant reduction is to accelerate the transition to electric vehciles, it says.

In the building sector, the authors' projections for 2045 assume that more than 11 million buildings will be supplied by heat pumps and around 3.5 million buildings will be connected to heating networks.

However, they conclude that progress is "too slow to achieve the targets for 2030 or 2045 in time."