Countries around the world are working to reduce their emissions of planet-heating carbon dioxide. Germany is now responsible for less than 2%, but even that is too much. Why?Germany's 2024 electricity generation was its 'cleanest ever' with renewable energy accounting for 62.7%, according to new research.

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This shift, which is thanks to an uptick in green energy and decline in coal-based power is part of a longer trend that has seen the country halve its emissions from electricity generation since 2014.

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Reductions have been achieved across many sectors despite differing political perspectives on how to make energy greener, according to Andreas Löschel, environmental economist at Ruhr University Bochum.

"There was never a questioning of the general theme of the energy transition. That was supported by all parties over three decades now, which I think is quite unique and it reflects the general dedication of the German population," said Löschel, who is also chairman of the expert commission on monitoring the government's energy transition.

As Germany prepares for snap elections in February, however, that is changing. Second in the polls, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) says it would end efforts towards decarbonization and plans for carbon neutrality by 2050.

With the country's established parties currently refusing to consider forming a coalition government with the AfD, it is unlikely that the party will make it into power.

Nevertheless, Germany's reduction of planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions stagnated somewhat last year. Though they fell by 3% to reach a historic low, thebatteries decline was considerably slower than the 10% drop of 2023.

Pure mathematics of carbon emissions

In 2022, Germany was responsible for around 1.75% of global carbon dioxide emissions. By comparison, the world's biggest emitter, China, accounted for just under a third of CO2 spewed into the atmosphere in the same year. Roughly another third was made up of countries producing more than 2%, like the United States, which was responsible for around 13%.

"The final third is completely made-up of countries that have less than 2% of the world's emissions," said Hannah Ritchie, deputy editor and lead researcher at the Oxford University-affiliated scientific platform Our World in Data. "All of the small emitters combined add up to more than China emits," Ritchie told DW.

She said that is one of the reasons why even relatively low-emitting industrialized countries like Germany, need to continue work to decarbonize. "Even at a fundamental mathematics level, this doesn't work if we don't take action."

And despite the progress Germany has made thus far, it remains among the 10 biggest emitters globally. Home to just over 1% of the world's population, Germany's residents emitted an average of around 7.1 tons per person in 2023, well over the world average of 4.7 tons.

The moral lens of responsibility

Analysts also argue that being one of the first countries to industrialize, Germany has a duty to clean up its act. At its peak in the late 1800s, the country was responsible for around 17% of global carbon emissions.

"Our historical emissions are much larger than our emissions today. That has brought us much higher standards of living," said Ritchie.

And because CO2 can remain in the atmosphere for between 300 and 1,000 years, emissions from the industrialization of countries such as Germany, Britain and France are still warming the planet today, impacting lives in distant places.

World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international organization that tracks the link between global warming and extreme weather, found that climate change had contributed to 26 events they studied in 2024. These were connected to the deaths of at least 3,700 people and the displacement of millions more.

Extreme weather events studied by the organization included heatwaves in Asia and Europe, extreme rainfall in India, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Spain, drought in South America and Italy, wildfires in Brazil and Chile, and storms in the United States and the Philippines, among others.

Countries in the Global South, those that have not yet industrialized by burning fossil fuels and so are least responsible for the climate crisis, are being the hardest hit by extreme weather events.

"We have contributed to this problem of global climate change," Ritchie said. "Therefore, there is a moral responsibility lens there by which we should try to use our wealth and our high standards of living to reduce our emissions."

Energy for the future

In the early 2000s, Germany used its wealth to pioneer what was then a new technology to drive down emissions, using government subsidies to incentivize an uptake in solar power.

"Without German policies on renewables, we would not have seen solar technology being used worldwide and being a big success factor, a development factor, for many countries in the world," he told DW.

Adding that Europe's largest economy should also continue to focus on cutting its emissions to promote innovation in clean technologies elsewhere.

"We have to show that it's possible to have an industrialized country that is able to keep up with the climate challenges and develop technologies, develop system solutions that demonstrate that this is not going to be a reason for economic decline, for loss of competitiveness."

Under current national legislation, Germany is obliged to reduce its emissions by 65% from 1990 levels by 2030. As well as helping the country meet its climate targets, David Ryfisch, co-head of division for international climate finance at environment and rights NGO Germanwatch said a forward-looking approach will also serve other national interests.

"We see that renewable energy, especially wind and solar, we see that batteries, electrolyzers, etc., they're all following the same paths of technology that have been successful in history, so it's very likely that these technologies will succeed," he said.

"It is in Germany's interest to invest in these technologies and become global leaders in this to have a competitive edge."

Edited by: Tamsin Walker

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 08, 2025 08:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).