Germany approves 2045 roadmap to phase out fossil fuels
Germany's cabinet has approved a 22-page roadmap making a coal, oil and gas phaseout by 2045 an explicit national policy goal for the first time, becoming the third country after France and the Netherlands to do so.
Germany’s cabinet yesterday approved a roadmap to phase out coal, oil and gas by 2045, making an explicit fossil fuel exit a national policy goal for the first time, Reuters reports.
The 22-page “Roadmap for the Gradual Withdrawal from Fossil Fuels” goes beyond Germany’s previous climate pledges, which aimed only at “carbon neutrality”, and consolidates existing measures rather than introducing brand-new ones. Germany becomes the third country after France and the Netherlands to adopt such a national roadmap under the international fossil fuel phaseout effort — even though almost 200 countries pledged at the COP28 climate talks in 2023 to wean themselves off fossil fuels, few have presented concrete plans, the Straits Times reports.
Environment Minister Carsten Schneider presented the plan at the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday, arguing the Middle East war showed why fossil fuels must go. “If the situation in the Strait of Hormuz determines whether people can still afford their daily commute to work, that is not a good state of affairs,” he said, according to AFP.
The roadmap backs electrification: heat pumps are expected to become Germany’s dominant heating system, and EU fleet rules should make battery-electric cars 100% of new passenger registrations by 2035, Spiegel reported. Germany will also examine bringing the coal-fired power exit forward from 2038 to 2035. Renewables are to rise from 55% to 80% of electricity by 2030, with 12GW of new onshore wind and 215GW of solar, while methane emissions fall 30% by 2030 under the Global Methane Pledge.
The plan exposed cabinet tension: Economy Minister Katherina Reiche wants more flexibility for combustion engines using alternative fuels and favours new gas-fired power plants to stabilise the grid. Environmentalists were underwhelmed — WWF climate policy adviser Fentje Jacobsen said the roadmap largely restated existing initiatives with “no new ideas or additional ambitions”.
Sources
- Reuters: Germany maps out fossil fuel exit, backing EVs, heat pumps
- The Straits Times (AFP): Germany sets out plan to abandon fossil fuels by 2045
- Osna.FM (citing Politico): Germany approves 2045 roadmap to phase out fossil fuels
- WDC News 6: Germany pledges to phase out fossil fuels for first time
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