Germany's climate advisor and respected physicist Hans Joachim Schellnhuber has revealed that humanity can only afford to emit a further 750 billion tonnes of CO2 between now and 2050. What does this translate to at a personal level?
Answers
Answer:Germany's national climate targets
Please note: The German government in May approved legal changes to speed up the country's bid for climate neutrality, aiming to hit the goal five years earlier in 2045. Cabinet approved a reform of the country's Climate Action Law that also includes stepping up the 2030 target for emission cuts to 65 from 55 percent, tougher emission budgets in all sectors, and new reduction targets for the 2040s. But the changes still need to be approved by parliament before they take effect. This factsheet will be updated following this step. The remainder of this text refers to the existing legislation.
Germany, like the European Union, aims to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2050. It has set the preliminary target of cutting emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
The country's first national climate law, passed in 2019, states annual reduction targets for individual sectors such as industry and transport until the year 2030. These are set in line with the European greenhouse gas emission reduction plans.
In case a target is missed or overshot, the law states that the difference will be spread out evenly over the remaining annual emissions budgets of the sector until 2030. The ambition of Germany's national climate targets can be raised but not lowered.
Germany's climate law also states that new emission budgets for the years after 2030 will be set in 2025, and that these must be in line with the goals of the law and the requirements of the European Union – hence, climate neutrality by 2050. An independent council of experts on climate issues will be set up by the federal government to evaluate emissions data, changes in climate action programmes and more.
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