Germany largely imports petroleum and natural gas to cover its domestic demand – Image: Ina Fassbender/AFP
Germany has said it plans to phase out the use of coal, oil and gas by 2045, reaffirming a climate strategy focused on electrification.
Germany has presented a road map to phase out fossil fuels by 2045.
German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that the plan “combines independence, affordability and climate protection.”
Europe’s largest economy is now the third country to have provided a solid plan for the phaseout — to which nearly 200 countries committed at the 2023 COP28 climate conference in Dubai — following France and the Netherlands.
What did Berlin say about the fossil phaseout plan?
Schneider, of the center-left Social Democratic Party in Germany, said the decision was linked to the Iran war and its impact on fuel supplies worldwide.
“It is not just extreme weather events around the world that demonstrate how urgently we need to do more to protect the climate,” he said. “If the situation in the Strait of Hormuz determines whether people can still afford their daily commute to work, that is not a good state of affairs.”
Schneider said he believed the 19-year deadline was feasible.
“Our road map is intended to set an international example. I am sure that many other countries will follow.”
Schneider said fossil fuels accounted for 65% of Germany’s energy consumption in 2024.
The majority — 98% of its oil and 95% of its natural gas — was imported at a cost of €76 billion ($86.5 billion). Schneider stressed that since 2024, that figure has risen sharply due to the Iran war.
Germany: How have environmental organizations reacted to the plan?
Several environmental organizations welcomed Berlin’s plan, though some highlighted that it contradicted some recent government decisions.
“With this announcement, Germany is showing a sign of life in international climate policy,” said Greenpeace energy expert Mira Jäger.
However, she noted that “at the same time, the federal government is subsidizing the oil industry, braking the heating transition, and slowing down the expansion of renewables.”
Fentje Jacobsen, a climate policy adviser at the World Wide Fund for Nature, argued that the plan largely rehashed existing initiatives without adding “new ideas or additional ambitions.”
“The current government is meanwhile planning to rely less on renewables and more on gas,” she added.
Energy Minister Katherina Reiche of the conservative Christian Democrats in Germany has advocated building new gas-fired power plants, arguing that this would help stabilize the electricity grid and compensate for the intermittent nature of renewable sources such as wind and solar.
Reiche has also demanded preserving a larger role for combustion-engine vehicles using alternative fuels, a position that contradicts the phaseout plan, which foresees battery-electric cars accounting for 100% of new passenger car registrations by 2035.
Germany’s car industry is a pillar of the country’s economy, and the recent struggles it has faced have naturally been reflected in the broader economy.
DW.com/NAN 26-09-26
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