German Advisory Council on the Environment

Type:Environmental Report · date of issue 2020.08.06Using the CO2 budget to meet the Paris climate targets

How much CO2 can Germany still emit if it is to make its fair contribution to compliance with the Paris Agreement? In this chapter of the Environmental Report 2020, the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) exemplifies how the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement can be translated into a national CO2 budget that can serve as a yardstick for future national climate policy.

If climate change is to be limited to the agreed level, one where it remains just about manageable, an upper limit must be set for the CO2 emissions still globally permissible. By distributing the emissions among the community of states, it is possible to arrive at a German CO2 budget in line with the principles of international distributive justice. The current German climate targets allow total emissions that exceed a national budget calculated in this way. In the Federal Climate Change Act, the Federal Government is supplementing existing climate targets with annual sectoral emissions limits up to 2030. This corresponds to the principle of national budgets but says too little about the level of ambition up to 2050. These emissions limits should be embedded in an overall budget up to 2050. The German Advisory Council on the Environment therefore recommends that the Federal Government should set a German CO2 budget compatible with the Paris Agreement and tighten the climate targets accordingly. The budget should not replace existing targets but serve as an overarching basis for assessment. At the same time, it is urgently necessary to implement measures that will pave the way to climate neutrality, for example by accelerating the expansion of renewable energies.Only in this way can the use of fossil resources be quickly brought to an end. In order to keep within budget, progress on reductions must be regularly reviewed and measures must be continuously refined.

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