Traffic Emissions: Corona Saves the CO2 Balance

Main Factor: Fewer Car Journeys During Lockdown

According to UBA statistics, traffic-related greenhouse gas emissions are 146 million tons of CO2, which is 19 million tons lower than the previous year (minus 11.4 percent) – and thus also below the annual emission amount of 150 million tons of CO2 set by the Federal Climate Protection Act for 2020. The main reason for this reduction is that fewer cars were driven during the first lockdown, especially on long journeys. This is evidenced by lower fuel sales numbers and data from counting stations on highways and federal roads.

Truck Mileage Barely Dropped, Cars Slightly More Efficient

A smaller part of the reduction, around two million tons, is due to lower CO2 emissions from new passenger cars, among other things due to the increase in new registrations of electric cars as well as more biofuels due to a higher blending rate. The mileage of trucks was only slightly lower compared to the previous year. A significant COVID-19 effect was also observed in domestic air traffic, which caused almost 60 percent less CO2 in 2020 – overall about 1 million tons less.

"With the 2020 climate balance, Germany is making progress in climate protection for the third year in a row. Of course, pandemic effects are also noticeable this special year, particularly in the transport sector. But it is important to me that structural changes are also apparent in the transformation of our economy towards climate neutrality," Schulze further emphasized.

How climate policy can work is especially evident in the energy sector, where the coal phase-out is progressing well. This is encouraging for other areas where much work remains to be done, said Schulze. The higher EU climate target will also demand more from Germany. Therefore, the government should already double the planned pace of expansion for wind and solar power in this decade. Further measures need to be quickly evaluated in the building sector as well. The new Climate Protection Act, with its binding targets for each individual sector, ensures this, Schulze believes, as it is now effective for the first time.

Instruments Begin to Take Effect

UBA President Dirk Messner also sees the effectiveness of climate policy instruments beginning to take effect, especially in the expansion of renewable energies and CO2 pricing. However, without the COVID-19 lockdowns and the resulting restrictions on production and mobility, Germany would have missed its climate target for 2020. He fears that emissions will rise again once the economy recovers.

"This is especially true for the transport sector, which cannot rest on the comparatively good figures," Messner demanded of Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU).

Therefore, it is clear to him that only ambitious climate protection and a structural change oriented towards accelerated decarbonization in the key economic sectors can lead to achieving the government's climate targets. For example, significantly more wind turbines must be installed in the future and the number of combustion engine cars must be massively reduced, specifies the UBA chief. The Climate Protection Act creates a new and innovative framework for this because the government will have to implement new measures in the future if the annual climate targets are missed. This has now caught up with Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer, and his party colleagues, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU), who is also responsible for buildings, and partly Peter Altmeier (CDU) as Economic and Energy Minister, must now catch up – and follow through.