Week 7 – Climate Change Policies, Nationally

While Freiburg itself is a Green City that takes many initiatives to increase its sustainability, there are some states in Germany that do not value sustainability as much. With this being said, these states are in the minority and Germany’s national government has passed a few laws intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One example is its 2030 requirement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 38% from 2005 levels. This law is actually part of an EU Effort Sharing Regulation (regulations are binding decisions from the EU that mandate all member states cooperate, while an EU directive is less binding) in which all 27 EU member states will need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There is also Germany’s Federal Climate Change Act of 2021, which adds more goals to achieve by 2030 – including, from 1990 levels, a 65% reduction by 2030, 88% reduction by 2040, and complete carbon neutrality by 2045. This is a difficult goal, so a budget increase of 8 billion Euros passed in June 2021 to focus sustainability efforts on industry, buildings, transport and energy sectors. The general attitude of Germany toward climate change is solemn and measured – Germany cares very much about sustainability and, as one of the biggest financial forces in the EU, is a role model for other EU member states, especially newer and smaller countries.

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