Climate protection and prosperity needn’t be mutually exclusive – as long as we remain open to using all technologies to secure the energy supply and decarbonise industry. Policymakers need to set the right course now.
The legal affairs committee of the European Parliament voted in favour of a common position on EU rules to hold companies accountable for human rights and environmental breaches on Tuesday (25 April), paving the way for a final plenary vote on 1 June.
While Germany achieved its 2022 climate target, the persistent emission overshoot in the transport and building sector threatens the country's ability to meet its 2030 objective, a national panel of scientists have warned.
The latest synthesis report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) "should be the basis for greater ambition at COP28" the EU's climate chief Frans Timmermans said about the UN's yearly climate conference which will take place in Dubai this year.
After thwarting a proposed EU ban on new fossil fuel cars, Germany's liberal FDP party is now launching an attack on the EU's buildings directive, which envisages a Europe-wide renovation obligation to reduce the sector's emissions.
The heat pump industry, the new darling of the German government, must grow rapidly to achieve the 2024 target of beginning the installation of 500,000 pumps a year, which Berlin is happy to assist in.
Germany’s emergency plan to get the building and transport sectors on track for climate neutrality failed to achieve their targets, according to the country's expert-led Climate Council.
The German government plans to spend €177.5 billion of the federal budget on climate action and the transformation of the country’s economy between 2023 and 2026, with a focus on increasing the energy efficiency of buildings.
Germany's agricultural sector and environmental experts are divided over the European Commission's proposals to gradually restore farmed peatlands to their natural state, with one saying it will cause arable land losses and the other viewing it as beneficial for food security.
Primary energy consumption is a metric that is commonly used worldwide, including by the European Commission. Most experts agree though that the metric is not fit for purpose when it comes to measuring energy use in buildings.
EU agriculture ministers and MEPs from European Parliament's agriculture committee want to see farmers' interests included in the new framework for land-use emissions, a responsibility that falls to their 'environment' colleagues.
As Germany closes its last nuclear reactors, it is also reactivating old coal power plants to ensure electricity supply security amid Russian threats to turn off the gas tap.
The German government will funnel an extra €200 billion into climate protection, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said in a move widely considered a bid to pacify their Green coalition partners
A total of 68 countries agreed to contribute to climate protection and biodiversity conservation by protecting agricultural soils at last week's World Conference of agriculture ministers in Berlin. EURACTIV Germany reports.
In his first government statement to the German federal parliament on Friday (January 14), Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir announced his intentions to introduce mandatory husbandry labeling this year. EURACTIV Germany reports.
They had no time to lose: A good six months before the German parliamentary elections, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) published its demands to the new government. In the Europe chapter, the focus on climate stands out, EURACTIV Germany reports.
Vanessa Nord believes that a rethinking is underway in Germany's professional sports. In 2019, the 28-year-old founded a company that supports clubs on their way to sustainability: ecologically, socially and economically. EURACTIV Germany reports.
After long negotiations, MEPs voted on Tuesday (6 October) in favour of further increasing the bloc's emissions target to 60% by 2030. In a double-interview with EURACTIV Germany, two German MEPs discuss what this could mean for the EU and Germany, as well as how the new target could be achieved.
The European Parliament's environment committee has voted for a new EU-wide target to reduce carbon emissions 60% by 2030, setting the stage for tough negotiations with EU countries and the European Commission, which is expected to propose a 55% goal next week. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Germany's conservative CDU/CSU Union has admitted to its own shortcomings when it comes to climate policy and is now searching for a new chairman and candidate for the chancellor's spot, which will shape the union's course on environmental policy. EURACTIV Germany reports.
One week before Germany takes over the EU Council presidency on 1 July, its highly anticipated programme went through the cabinet, with priorities focused on managing the coronavirus crisis and its economic and social fallout. However, that was not enough to placate critics in the green and left-wing opposition. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Calculations by experts now show that the EU's planned economic rescue package, worth €750 billion, is nowhere near enough to achieve the bloc's climate targets. Even in the best-case scenario, only one-third of the costs would be covered. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has insisted that the European Green Deal must be the driving force behind Europe's economic recovery plan. However, Germany has, so far, bailed out its fossil fuel industry like no other EU member state - and it's still a long way away from presenting its national climate plan. EURACTIV Germany reports.
In an interview with EURACTIV Germany, Green Austrian MP Lukas Hammer spoke about his party's negotiations with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) while drafting the coalition agreement and why his party took the risk of accepting tough migration policies in exchange for increased climate protection.
