Environment: New action programme: Ministry of the Environment steps up efforts to protect natural climate

Germany continues to miss its climate targets in the land use sector by a wide margin. For this reason, the Federal Ministry for the Environment wants to present a new version of the "Natural Climate Protection Action Program" - as ANK 2.0. However, the draft promises measures that other federal ministries have long since rejected.

It may be a clever move by the Federal Ministry for the Environment: in a time when Germany is discussing heat, the ministry is presenting a new package of measures for natural climate protection. On Monday, Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) launched the association hearing for the draft of the ANK 2.0.

With measures in the areas of peatland, forest and coastal protection, as well as proposals for improved biomass utilization, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) wants to slightly exceed the sink target for 2045 - minus 40 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). However, the ministry initially continues to expect the sink targets to be missed. In 2040, despite the measures, the target would be exceeded by around four million tons of CO2e, according to the draft.

The ANK 2.0 is not only technically but also politically overdue. Germany is failing to meet its climate targets in the land use sector (LULUCF) - i.e. in agriculture, forests, peatlands - by a wide margin. Instead of binding additional CO2, the country is exceeding the sink target up to 2030 (minus 25 million tons of CO2e) by around 50 million tons of CO2e. The Federal Environment Agency also predicts significant target shortfalls for the further future.