Latest publication: Using the CO2 budget to meet the Paris climate targets

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.

In this chapter the SRU 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, SRU argues, but shouldserve 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, the council stated in this chapter f the Environmental Report 2020. Read More