Climate change in Germany

Hamburg Population Density and Low Elevation Coastal Zones

The North Sea provinces of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony have a high vulnerability to storm surges and high-impact river flooding. The Baltic province of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is less vulnerable to storm surges, but at higher risk to loss of biodiversity and loss of topsoil and erosion.[3] A key reason why Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is particularly vulnerable to climate change among northern provinces is that it is a relatively poor region of Germany with a large agricultural sector.[4]

The Rhineland is historically a heavily industrial and population-dense area which includes the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate, and Saarland. This region is rich in iron and coal deposits and supports one of Europe's largest coal industries. In the past, sulfuric acid emissions from Rhineland coal plants contributed to acid rain, damaging forests in other regions like Hesse, Thuringia, and Saxony.

Many Rhineland provinces and regions are heavily built-up, creating a heat island effect. In addition, urban areas are rapidly aging along with the rest of Germany. This increases the severity and frequency of heatwaves which can be dangerous for vulnerable populations such as the elderly.[3] Other significant problems for the Rhineland related to its high level of industrialization include the destruction of infrastructure from extreme weather events, loss of water for industrial purposes, and fluctuation of the ground water level. Since these problems are related to its level of industrialization, cities within other regions are also sensitive to these challenges including Munich and Bremen.

Warming in Germany has affected some parts of the German agricultural industry. In particular, warming since at least 1988 in the Southwest wine-growing regions has caused a decline in the output of ice wine, a product particularly vulnerable to warming. In 2019, almost no ice wine was produced due to lack of sufficiently cold days.[5]

On 25 Feb 2020 activists demonstrated against the new coal power of Datteln 4 Uniper Germany.[7] In the fight against the climate crisis, German coal power operators will be compensated for early switch-offs. However, in the new coal-fired plant Datteln 4 commenced operation on 30 May 2020[8] and also allowed for the expansion of the Garzweiler surface mine in western Germany.[9]

The third report as produced by the Climate Enquête Commission, released in 1990 titled "Protecting the Earth," called for Germany to make a 30% reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from 1987 levels by 2005 and an 80% decrease in emissions by 2050.[10] After the report was released, the German federal government adopted the recommended 25-30% emissions reduction goal by 2005.[10] Later reduction goals include Germany's pledge to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 21% from 1990-2012 as part of the EU's collective 8% reduction from the Kyoto Protocol, and the 2005 target of reducing GHG emissions by 40% from 1990 to 2020.[11] The adoption of these national targets have motivated the German government to adopt different policies to meet these goals.

In addition to nationally adopted emission reduction goals, private industry has also made agreements with the government to reduce their emissions.[12] In 1995, German industry published a voluntary declaration of their reduction goals, which was later revised in 1996.[6] In November 2000, a report was released that indicated multiple sectors of German industry were on track to exceed their targets in half of the originally stipulated time.[6] Encouraged by this success, industry published another revised declaration which aimed to reduce their total GHG emissions 35% by 2005.[6]

A major driver of Germany's GHG emissions reductions was a result of German reunification in 1990, whose economic revitalization and other policies are credited with reducing 112.9 megatons of CO2/year from 1990 to 2010.[13] The environmental benefits of reunification policies were largely co-benefits from modernization measures such as improving energy efficiency standards, the closure of nuclear power plants, and the creation of a private coal mining industry.[6]

Germany has created multiple policies meant to encourage the use of renewable energy sources, such as the Electricity Feed-In Act and Renewable Energy Sources Act.[11] The 1991 Electricity Feed-In Act stipulated that utilities purchase subsidized renewable electricity, which effectively cost 90% of the retail price which henceforth made the development of wind, biomass, and hydroelectric power economically viable.[11] It is estimated that the Electricity Feed-In Act is responsible for a 42x increase in wind power from 1990 to 1998.[6]

Despite initial success, due to shifts in the electricity market, the Electricity Feed-In Act was no longer as effective by the end of the decade, and was later strengthened by the 2000 Renewable Energy Sources Act. This act guaranteed the price of renewable energy for twenty years by setting feed-in prices, and spread the costs of wind power subsidies across consumers of all energy sources.[11]

Mitigation efforts are being undertaken at all levels of government. Federal-level efforts are being carried out by the Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Germany's primary environmental protection agency, serving a similar function to the US' EPA.[14] The UBA's primary role is to make environmental risk assessments and deliver policy recommendations to the Ministry of the Environment. The agency is also in charge of enforcing environmental protection laws including in the approval process for new pharmaceuticals and pesticides and CO₂ trading.

In the end of 2008 the parliament of the EU approved the climate and energy plan including:[15]

- 20% emission cut of climate gases from 1990 to 2020

- 20% increase in the share of renewable energy from 1990 to 2020

- 20% increase of the energy efficiency from 1990 to 2020.

Mitigation efforts are being undertaken at all levels of government. Federal-level efforts are being carried out by the Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Germany's primary environmental protection agency, serving a similar function to the US' EPA.[14] The UBA's primary role is to make environmental risk assessments and deliver policy recommendations to the Ministry of the Environment. The agency is also in charge of enforcing environmental protection laws including in the approval process for new pharmaceuticals and pesticides and CO₂ trading.