The update of the National Hydrogen Strategy adapts and develops the initial <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://climate-laws.org/document/national-hydrogen-strategy-nws_e4d5?q=hydrogen+strategy+germany" target="_blank">strategy from 2020</a>. The updated strategy outlines the following goals for 2030:<ul><li>Accelerate the market ramp-up of hydrogen.</li><li>Ensure sufficient availability of hydrogen and its derivatives. The target for domestic electrolysis capacity in 2030 is increased from 5 GW to at least 10 GW. The demand beyond this, which is expected to account for about 50-70% of total demand around 2030, is expected to be met mainly by imports. In parallel, an import strategy is in the making and will be published by the end of 2023.</li><li>Establish an efficient hydrogen infrastructure.</li><li>Establish hydrogen application and its derivates in particular for the following sectors: industry, heavy-duty commercial transport; and increasingly, aviation and shipping.</li><li>Make Germany the lead supplier for hydrogen technologies.</li><li>Create appropriate legal frameworks at the national, European and, if possible, international levels.</li></ul>

The strategy aims to accelerate deployment of onshore wind energy in Germany and includes measures at the federal, state, and local levels including: <ul><li>simplifying and accelerating consenting processes for projects, </li><li>improving the profitability of plants at locations with less potential, </li><li>increasing tender volumes and expansion paths, and </li><li>making it clear that renewables are in the overriding public interest and serve public safety.</li></ul>

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://climate-laws.org/document/renewable-energy-sources-act-eeg-latest-version-eeg-2022_1b40?l=germany&amp;c=Legislation&amp;o=0&amp;q=eeg" target="_blank">By 2030</a>, the quota of renewable electricity in total gross consumption shall reach 80% and the installed solar capacity shall reach 215 GW. To this end, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action approved the Photovoltaic Strategy.The Strategy sets out eleven fields of action. Broadly, these comprise: <ol><li>Expand ground-mounted systems more strongly;</li><li>Facilitate rooftop photovoltaics;</li><li>Simplify tenant electricity and communcal building supply;</li><li>Facilitate the use of balcony PV;</li><li>Accelerate grid connections;</li><li>Strengthen acceptance;</li><li>Ensure effective links between energy law and tax law;</li><li>Secure supply chains and stimulate competitive, European production;</li><li>Secure skilled workforce;</li><li>Promote technology development; and</li><li>Advance the rapid expansion of PV with European policy instruments.</li></ol>

This Plan seeks to protect, strengthen, and restore ecosystems. It marries climate action with nature conservation and aims at increasing the health, resilience, and the biodiversity of degraded ecosystems through a set of measures. To this end, the Plan is also a central instrument in achieving the CDR targets for the LULUCF sector as mandated by the amended <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://climate-laws.org/document/federal-climate-protection-act-and-to-change-further-regulations-bundesklimaschutzgesetz-or-ksg_c1c2?l=germany&amp;q=federal+climate+protection+act&amp;c=Legislation" target="_blank">Federal Climate Protection Act</a> (2021). The Plan comprises 69 measures across ten fields of action and approves four billion euros for implementing the plan until 2026. The fields of action are as follows: <ul><li>Protection of intact peatlands and rewetting;</li><li>Natural water balance with living rivers, lakes and floodplains;</li><li>Seas and coasts;</li><li>Wilderness and protected areas;</li><li>Forest ecosystems;</li><li>Soils as carbon sinks;</li><li>Natural climate protection on settlement and traffic areas;</li><li>Data collection, monitoring, modelling and reporting;</li><li>Research and capacity building; and</li><li>International and EU cooperation.</li></ul>

This Strategy sets out the goals, milestones and priorities for future research and innovation policy. In doing so, it also addresses the climate and biodiversity crisis.

The Federal Climate Adaptation Act is Germany’s (separate) climate framework law aimed at strengthening climate adaptation to protect life and health, society, the economy and infrastructure as well as nature and ecosystems. Pursuant to the law, the government must present a precautionary climate adaptation strategy with measurable targets by the end of September 2023. The strategy will be developed based on a climate risk analysis and will comprise various clusters all of which include several fields of action. The clusters are: <ul><li>Water;</li><li>Infrastructure;</li><li>Land and land use;</li><li>Health;</li><li>Economy;</li><li>Urban development; and</li><li>Cross-cutting.</li></ul> The government must also publish a periodic monitoring report which will inform the public about the observed consequences of climate change and the status of target achievement of the precautionary climate adaptation strategy. If the monitoring report reveals that the targets are not met, the measures in the strategy must be amended. Notably, the law also includes a consideration requirement according to which public authorities must consider climate adaptation goals in an interdisciplinary and integrated manner. Both occurred and anticipated effects of climate change must be taken into consideration. Lastly, the Federal States can implement their own adaptation laws and must present and implement Federal precautionary adaptation strategies. The Federal States must also present on the state of so-called climate adaptation concepts of municipalities and districts.

This regulation serves to establish measures in accordance with Section 11 Paragraph 3 of the Fuel Emissions Trading Act (BEHG) to prevent carbon leakage and to maintain the cross-border competitiveness of companies affected by the provisions of the BEHG, which result in higher fuel prices.&nbsp;Companies receiving subisidies under this Regulation must have made investments from 2023 onwards in measures that improve energy efficiency and are specifically identified within the framework of the energy management system in accordance with Section 10 of the Regulation, and are considered to be economically feasible. Only companies falling within the sectors and sub-sectors listed in Appendix 1 and 2 of the Regulation are eligible to apply for aid. This includes sectors and sub-sectors such as: cement, lead, wood and pulp, and bright steel production; the processing of nuclear fuel; sugar production; the production of synthetic rubber; the production and initial processing of copper; iron foundries; and the extraction of petroleum. The Appendices also indicate the degree to which the sectors and sub-sectors will be compensated in relation to their emissions intensity.The European Commission <a style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.dehst.de/EN/national-emissions-trading/carbon-leakage/carbon-leakage_node.html?__site=SPK." target="_blank">approved</a> the Regulation on August 10th, 2023, and approved the German government’s proposal for the European Commission to implement additional transparency requirements for companies receiving individual subsidy grants of more than 100,000 euros by publishing the names, size, region and primary economic sector of these companies.

This Act seeks to promote the transformation to a GHG neutral power supply based on renewable energies by accelerating the expansion of onshore wind energy. To this end, the Act sets binding area targets for the Federal States which are necessary to achieve the targets and pathways of the amended <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://climate-laws.org/document/renewable-energy-sources-act-eeg-latest-version-eeg-2022_1b40?l=germany&amp;c=Legislation&amp;o=20" target="_blank">Renewable Energy Sources Act</a> (so called ‘area contribution values’). Section 3 sets out the obligations of the Federal states. In accordance with Annex 1, each Federal State must designate certain area contribution values for onshore wind energy by the end of 2027 and 2032. This Act was last amended in March 2023, together with a raft of other reforms.

This law aims at bringing relief for citizens in using public transport by introducing a discounted monthly ticket for June, July and August 2022 (“9-Euro-Ticket”) and&nbsp; to support the proportional compensation payments by increasing the regionalization funds to compensate for the financial disadvantages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic ("public transport rescue package").

This law serves to implement Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 13, 2003 on a system for trading in greenhouse gas emission certificates in the Community. It was last amended by Article 18 of the Act of August 10, 2021 (BGBl. I p. 3436)

Germany. National Communication (NC). NC 8. Biennial Reports (BR). BR 5., National Communication,Biennial Report from Germany in 2023

Germany. 2022 National Inventory Report (NIR), National Inventory Report from Germany in 2022

Germany. 2021 National Inventory Report (NIR), National Inventory Report from Germany in 2021

Germany. Biennial report (BR). BR 4, Biennial Report from Germany in 2019

Germany. Biennial Reports (BR). BR 3. National Communication (NC). NC 7., National Communication,Biennial Report from Germany in 2017

Biofuel Quota Act (BioKraftQuG)

Law passed

Law amended

The legal basis for the Meseberg Integrated Energy and Climate Programme, which contained a 17% target for biofuels by 2020. Under the Act, a growing percentage of fuel for use in motor vehicles must be produced from biomass. The German Advisory Council on the Environment found the target to be far too high, and favours biomass use in stationary CHP plants. The European Union in of the Renewable Energy Directive prescribes a renewables share of only 10% for the transport sector.

Biofuel Quota Act (BioKraftQuG)

Main documents

Timeline

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