© Reuters. A wind powered energy station stands in front of the chimney of a refinery near the eastern German town of Leuna south of Leipzig March 25, 2004/File Photo
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Federal Environment Agency (UBA) confirmed preliminary projections that Europe’s biggest economy’s greenhouse emissions fell by around 10% year-on-year in 2023, putting the country on track to meet its 2030 climate targets.
Carbon dioxide emissions fell to 673 million tons, the biggest drop since Germany’s reunification, the agency announced on Friday, confirming preliminary figures published by the Berlin-based Agora Energiewende think-tank in January.
Germany aims to cut its greenhouse emissions by 65% by 2030 compared with 1990, a step to becoming carbon neutral by 2045. It is currently at around 46%.
“Germany is on track – for the first time. If we stay on track, we will achieve our 2030 climate goals,” Climate Action and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.
A drop in energy-intensive industries’ output, along with a rise in renewable power production contributed to the emissions decline, the agency said.
But the transport and building sectors failed to meet their emissions targets last year, risking the 2030 goals if further measures to decarbonise the sectors were not taken, the ministry said.
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