The German Energiewende

14 | The German Energiewende
Climate protection
Reducing greenhouse
gas emissions
The Energiewende is a key component of climate change mitigation. Both aim to keep the impact
of climate change on people, nature and the economy at a sustainable level. According to
calculations by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming must
be kept to at most 2°C above pre-industrial age temperatures. This means that only a certain
amount of greenhouse gases can continue to be emitted. As the atmosphere already contains
65 percent of this amount, major global and national endeavours to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions are needed.
Carbon dioxide, which is mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels, has the greatest impact
on climate change. In Germany and globally, more than a third of all greenhouse gases are
emitted by power plants. This is why the shift to climate-neutral resources, such as renewable
energies, is a key part of climate protection.
Climate targets and progress
Planned and achieved greenhouse gas reductions (compared with 1990)
Who emits greenhouse gases?
All figures in millions of tonnes of CO2 equivalents in 2017
-40% -23%
Europe
(EU 28)
at least
-55% -28%
2030 target Achieved by 2016 2030 target Achieved by 2017
Germany
905 millions of tonnes
...
328
91
171
39
193
72
10
Energy sector
Households
Transport
Business, trade, services
Industry
Agriculture
Others
© dpa/Luftbild Bertram © dpa/MiS
1996
Europe decides to liberalise its electricity and gas markets, which had previously
been restricted to national territories. The European Commission publishes
the first joint European strategy on the development of renewable energies.