Germany to fall far short of 2020 climate target

The German government yesterday acknowledged that it will miss a 2020 target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, but vowed to catch up "as quickly as possible".

Rather than cutting emissions of the greenhouse gas by 40 percent compared with 1990 levels, Europe's largest economy will manage reductions of just 32 percent, said the annual climate report for 2017 signed off by Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet.

The shortfall of eight percentage points translates into around 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) pumped into the air annually.

Germany has a 2050 climate goal to reduce CO2 emissions by between 80 and 95 percent compared with 1990, and is a signatory to the 2015 Paris agreement that aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.