Berlin, Jan 12 (TIWN) Germany would miss its climate targets for 2022 and 2023, Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck said on Tuesday when presenting a report on the current state of climate protection in the country.

2021 was a bad year for Germany’s climate ambitions. Renewable electricity generation hit a two-year low due to exceptionally low winds and carbon emissions picked up again after a brief drop caused by COVID-19 restrictions.

As a consequence, the country missed its 2021 climate goals.

“We start with a drastic backlog,” admitted Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck as he presented Germany’s 2021 climate account in Berlin on Tuesday (11 January).

Under business-as-usual projections, Germany would achieve a mere 50% reduction in emissions by 2030, Habeck explained. “That would mean emitting 200 million tonnes of CO2 more” than the country’s target, he added.

“The climate protection measures taken to date are inadequate in all sectors,” he said, adding that Germany would likely “miss its 2022 and 2023 climate targets.”

In December, the “traffic light” coalition made up of the socialist SPD, the Greens and the liberal FDP party assumed office in Berlin following 16 years of conservative rule by Angela Merkel.

Germany has cut emissions by 40% relative to 1990, according to official figures published in December. Now, the country would have to cut another 25% to achieve its 2030 targets, Habeck observed.