Germany

Critically Insufficient4°C+
World
NDCs with this rating fall well outside of a country’s “fair share” range and are not at all consistent with holding warming to below 2°C let alone with the Paris Agreement’s stronger 1.5°C limit. If all government NDCs were in this range, warming would exceed 4°C. For sectors, the rating indicates that the target is consistent with warming of greater than 4°C if all other sectors were to follow the same approach.
Highly insufficient< 4°C
World
NDCs with this rating fall outside of a country’s “fair share” range and are not at all consistent with holding warming to below 2°C let alone with the Paris Agreement’s stronger 1.5°C limit. If all government NDCs were in this range, warming would reach between 3°C and 4°C. For sectors, the rating indicates that the target is consistent with warming between 3°C and 4°C if all other sectors were to follow the same approach.
Insufficient< 3°C
World
NDCs with this rating are in the least stringent part of a country’s “fair share” range and not consistent with holding warming below 2°C let alone with the Paris Agreement’s stronger 1.5°C limit. If all government NDCs were in this range, warming would reach over 2°C and up to 3°C. For sectors, the rating indicates that the target is consistent with warming over 2°C and up to 3°C if all other sectors were to follow the same approach.
2°C Compatible< 2°C
World
NDCs with this rating are consistent with the 2009 Copenhagen 2°C goal and therefore fall within a country’s “fair share” range, but are not fully consistent with the Paris Agreement long term temperature goal. If all government NDCs were in this range, warming could be held below, but not well below, 2°C and still be too high to be consistent with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C limit. For sectors, the rating indicates that the target is consistent with holding warming below, but not well below, 2°C if all other sectors were to follow the same approach.
1.5°C Paris Agreement Compatible< 1.5°C
World
This rating indicates that a government’s NDCs in the most stringent part of its “fair share” range: it is consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit. For sectors, the rating indicates that the target is consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit.
Role model<< 1.5°C
World
This rating indicates that a government’s NDC is more ambitious than what is considered a “fair” contribution: it is more than consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit. No “role model” rating has been developed for the sectors.
1.5°C Compatible< 1.5°C
World
This rating indicates that a government’s NDCs in the most stringent part of its “fair share” range: it is consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit. For sectors, the rating indicates that the target is consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit.

National target

We rate Germany’s national target for 2030 as "Highly insufficient". As part of the EU, Germany did not submit its own NDC to the Paris Agreement. Therefore, we assess the 2030 emissions levels derived from Germany's national targets.

The “Highly insufficient” rating indicates that Germany's climate commitment in 2030 is not consistent with holding warming to below 2°C, let alone limiting it to 1.5°C as required under the Paris Agreement. The emissions levels of Germany’s national target fall just outside the wide range of emissions levels that represent its fair share effort to the Paris Agreement 1.5°C temperature goal. As we explain elsewhere, commitments just outside a country’s fair-share range are rated as highly insufficient.

Substantially deeper reductions by 2030 would move Germany’s national targets towards compatibility with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C temperature goal. Rating individual member states as part of the EU is difficult because of the internal burden sharing system, interlinkage of the actions through the emission trading system and redistribution of financial flows, linked electricity sector. We therefore do not provide a 1.5°C and 2°C temperature levels for EU member states.

Current policy projections

Germany’s CAT rating is based on the emission reduction commitments put forward in its national targets.

If the CAT were to rate Germany’s projected emissions levels in 2030, the rating would also be “Highly Insufficient”.

Further information about the risks and impacts associated with the temperature levels of each of the categories.

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