Germany exceeded its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an analysis
The analysis published by the think tank Agora Energiewende on Monday said that Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 were 42.3 per cent lower than the reference year 1990, exceeding the target of 40 per cent lower, reports Xinhua news agency.
According to estimates by Agora Energiewende, two-thirds of the decline in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Germany was driven by the impact of the Covid-19 crisis and related drops in energy consumption, industrial production and transportation.
Without Covid-19 effects, CO2 emissions in Germany would have only declined by 37.8 per cent, just short of the national emission target, the analysis found.
“In 2020, real climate protection effects were only achieved in the electricity sector, where CO2 reductions are attributable to the replacement of coal by gas and renewables,” Patrick Graichen, executive director of Agora Energiewende, said in a statement.
“Transport and industry will again emit more greenhouse gases as soon as the economy picks up again,” Graichen added.
