Germany achieves its climate target

Berlin (dpa) - Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze has called for climate action to be accelerated. The SPD politician said in Berlin on Tuesday that the fact that Germany had achieved its climate target last year was no reason to rest on one's laurels.

Without the consequences of the coronavirus crisis, the 2020 climate target would probably have just been missed, said Dirk Messner, President of the Federal Environment Agency. In total, Germany emitted almost 739 million tonnes of greenhouse gases last year. Compared to 1990, emissions fell by 40.8 percent. An overall decrease of 40 percent was the target.

Schulze said that the decisive factor will be to have more video conferences rather than business trips, to shift traffic from road to rail, to expand cycle paths and to switch to electric vehicles.

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