Mobilität: Umwelthilfe: Politiker fahren zu oft Spritschlucker

The German environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) has criticized a significant number of German politicians for using gasoline-powered service vehicles with high CO2 emissions. According to DUH, only 90 out of 249 examined service vehicles are fully electric. Their share has slightly decreased compared to the previous year.

DUH's Bundesgeschäftsführerin Barbara Metz called this a "challenge against forward-looking transport policy and a disastrous signal for German climate policy." The organization urges federal and state governments to consistently choose electric cars for new acquisitions instead of buying plug-in hybrids, which are often driven with combustion engines in practice and make up the largest share of the service vehicle fleet.

For their evaluation, DUH assumes an electric share of around 11% to determine the CO2 emissions of the cars. If politicians have multiple service vehicles, those with the highest CO2 emissions are taken into account. The Environment Ministry leads the way, with Environment Minister Reem Alabali-Radovan's service vehicle emitting 64 grams of CO2 per kilometer, the most climate-friendly among federal ministers and their secretaries.

When considering the vehicle fleet of ministers and their state secretaries, the Environment Ministry ranks first, followed by the Interior and Development Ministry, ahead of the Labor Ministry. Kanzler Friedrich Merz's (CDU) and some other federal ministers' cars were not evaluated due to their heavy armor. Among state government leaders, Baden-Württemberg's Minister-President Cem Özdemir tops the list with 66 grams of CO2 per kilometer.

However, Berlin's government, which last fully relied on battery electric service vehicles in 2026, falls behind. The DUH praised Bremen's Environment Senator Henrike Müller for traveling in a gas-powered carriage. When evaluating by parties, the Greens lead.