Environment at a Glance Indicators

Germany

This country profile features selected environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. The indicators reflect major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, biodiversity, and selected policy responses to these issues. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. The OECD is working with countries and other international organisations to further improve the indicators and the underlying data. A large part of the text of this country profile is drawn from the OECD Environmental Performance Review of Germany 2023.

Context

Germany is in the world’s top five largest economies by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and has one of the highest GDP per person in the OECD. It is also one of the world's largest exporters of goods. Germany has a social market economy with a highly skilled labour force, a large capital stock and a high level of innovation. The automotive industry is the fourth largest globally by production and plays an important role for employment. Germany is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals and household equipment.

Germany is the fourth-largest country in the European Union (EU) by area, and the most populous. Located in the heart of Europe, it shares borders with nine other countries as well as the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. It is a federal country with 16 states (Länder), which have the primary responsibility for the implementation of environmental policy. Germany is a densely populated country with several major urban agglomerations (Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Munich, etc.).

Germany is rich in groundwater resources. The country is endowed with important reserves of brown coal and hard coal, some iron ore and mineral salts. The government has committed by law to end coal-fired power generation by 2038 (2030 in North-Rhine Westphalia) and “ideally by 2030”. However, as part of emergency measures to prevent energy shortages due to the war in Ukraine, the German government agreed to reopen temporarily some of its coal and oil power plants. Germany depends heavily on imports of other raw materials.

Basic statistics

Climate change

GHG emissions

Despite emission reduction efforts, Germany is still among the ten largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters in the world. This is mainly due to the high share of carbon-intensive industries such as steel, cement and chemicals in GDP, and to the reliance on fossil fuels for transport, heating and electricity production. Germany has one of the strongest records of emissions reduction in the OECD since 1990. The country has decoupled from economic growth its total energy supply and CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion. Per person CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion are below the OECD average but well above the European one. As many other high-consumption countries, demand-based CO₂ emissions (footprint), accounting for carbon embodied in imported goods, is above the OECD average.

Energy industries are the largest emitter of GHG emissions, followed by transport and combustion from the residential and commercial sector. Agriculture, industrial processes and waste make-up the remainder. Reductions of CO₂ emissions (in particular from energy industries) were due to a decline in coal use between 2013 and 2020. Emissions from transport decreased until 2009, but grew between 2012 and 2017 due to increases in transport densities and mileage travelled.

Germany has ambitious climate targets of achieving reductions of GHG emission of at least 65% by 2030 and at least 88% by 2040, compared to 1990 levels. The country aims to reach climate neutrality by 2045 (five years earlier than the EU target) and achieve negative emissions after 2050.

Energy mix

Despite a significant increase of renewables in the energy mix, Germany still depends largely on fossil fuels. Coal remains a major source of electricity generation. The expansion of renewables mainly contributed to replacing nuclear energy (for electricity production).

Domestic production of oil and natural gas is small, and the country relies heavily on imports. Coal still accounts for the largest share of Germany’s energy production, but the country has a legally binding goal to phase out coal by 2038 at the latest. Germany has achieved remarkable growth in renewable electricity over the past decade. The government has set a new legally binding target to increase the share of renewable energy sources to 80% of electricity production by 2030 (previously fixed at 65%).

Prior to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Germany was highly dependent on Russian oil and coal. In response to the global energy crisis, the government has taken emergency measures, including to accelerate the roll-out of renewables. To date, the country no longer depends on Russian imports for its energy supply. However, the government conceded the temporary reopening of several coal plants and an extension of the three remaining nuclear plants until April 2023.

Air quality

Air emissions

Emissions of all major air pollutants have decreased and have been decoupled from GDP growth. Reductions have slowed down since 2010 due to increased economic activity. Germany complied with its EU emission reduction commitments for all pollutants and reached its 2020 Gothenburg Protocol objectives for sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) and ammonia (NH₃) emissions.

Road transportation is the major source of NOx, CO, NMVOC and fine particulates (PM_2.5). Emissions decreased due to stricter regulations. SOx emissions, of which power stations are the main source, decreased due to a switch from sulphur-rich solid fuels to liquid and gaseous fuels. Emission intensities per unit of GDP and per person are all lower than the OECD average.

Emission reductions went on par with air quality improvements. Average population exposure to PM_2.5 is below the OECD average but nevertheless above the 2021 guideline value of 5 µg/m³ recommended by the World Health Organization. Air pollution remains a major health concern for citizens as people in bigger cities are much more exposed to PM_2.5 than the national average. Despite progress, five air quality zones still exceeded the EU limit value for NO₂ in 2020.

Freshwater resources

Intensity of use of freshwater resources

Germany’s water resources are relatively abundant, although there are shortages in some regions (e.g. North and East) due to low groundwater levels and high demand from energy producing industries (for cooling). The country is therefore under moderate water stress. Cooling related to electricity generation represented about half of total water abstractions. Public water supply accounted for nearly 20% in 2021. Irrigated agriculture is negligible, representing less than 1%.

Between 1991 and 2013 the drinking water use declined by about 15% due to water saving household- and sanitation technologies, information and awareness raising among citizens as well as to a water tariff that is largely consumption dependent. As a result, the per person intensity of abstractions of freshwater for public supply is well below that of most OECD countries and slightly decreased over the past decades.

Connection rates to public wastewater treatment plants, which were already high in 2001 have continued to increase. Most (94%) wastewater is treated in plants with tertiary (“advanced”) treatment. Only 3% of the population does not benefit from a connection and 2% has independent treatment systems. The quality of drinking water is good to very good. However, groundwater pollution due to diffuse agriculture pollution remains a major challenge

Waste, materials and circular economy

Municipal waste

Generation of municipal waste decreased until 2005 and generally increased since. It started to fall again in 2022. The related per person intensity is above the OECD and OECD Europe averages, partly reflecting high consumption levels.

Germany has one of the highest recovery rates (recycling + composting + incineration with energy recovery) and the second highest recycling rate in the OECD area. This is mainly due to a ban of municipal waste landfilling since 2005 but also to proactive waste management at local levels. As of 2023, suppliers of takeaway food and drinks must offer products in reusable packaging at no extra cost.

Material consumption

Germany’s consumption of materials has been decreasing since 2000 while GDP continued to grow, resulting in an improved material productivity, well above the OECD average. The material footprint per person has been fluctuating but with a slightly decreasing trend. It remains much higher than material consumption per person.

As in many countries, non-metallic minerals account for the largest share of the material mix, followed by fossil energy carriers. The consumption of non-metallic minerals has significantly decreased between 2000 and 2010, mainly due to reduced investments for construction. After 2010 construction investments increased again due to increased economic activity after the 2008 financial crisis, leading to higher consumption of mineral based raw materials. Consumption of materials from fossil energy carriers has decreased, in particular since 2013, mainly reflecting a reduction of coal production.

Biodiversity

Germany is composed of three major landscape regions: the northern lowlands, which contain a substantial number of lakes and wetlands; the central uplands, with hills and mountains rising to 1 000 metres; and the Alps, a mountainous southern area with hills, large lakes and the Alp mountains, where elevations reach up to 3 000 metres. Arable land covers about half of the total land area and forests about a third. Habitat fragmentation and urban sprawl remain amongst the main pressures on biodiversity, along with intensive farming and forestry, and soil sealing and pollutants (e.g. acidifying chemicals and nutrients). Land-take for settlements and transport infrastructure has decreased over the past decade and still represented 54 hectares of land per day between 2017 and 2020, well above Germany’s 2030 goal of reducing the increase of sealed soil to less than 30 hectares per day (UBA, 2022a).

Germany is home to about 48 000 animal species and 10 300 plant species. More than one third of the species found are endangered. Reptiles, amphibians and lichens show the highest share of threatened species. Bird species typical of agricultural landscapes have declined by about 30% on average since 1990. In addition to harmful agricultural practices the loss of meadows, fallows and land have contributed to biodiversity loss.

Protected areas

Germany far exceeded the 2020 Aichi targets (under the Convention on Biological Diversity) to protect at least 17% of land area and 10% of coastal and marine areas. The country has amongst the highest shares of protected areas in OECD countries. However, only a very small proportion of terrestrial protected areas have strict management objectives (IUCN categories I-II) and about 0.6 % of the country’s land is covered by protected areas that have had management effectiveness assessments. The share (15 %) of the EEZ with Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) evaluations is much higher. PAME evaluations can be defined as: “the assessment of how well protected areas are being managed – primarily the extent to which management is protecting values and achieving goals and objectives" (Hockings et al. 2006).

Policy instruments

This section shows selected policy instruments based on data available for most OECD countries and does not provide a complete overview of countries’ policy mix to achieve their environment-related objectives. Interpretation should consider the country specific context.

Environmentally-related taxation

The share of environmentally-related tax revenue in GDP decreased and is below the OECD Europe average, but remains above the OECD one. As in many countries, most receipts come from taxes on energy products and on transport. Excise duties on energy products have remained virtually unchanged during the past decade.

Government support to fossil fuel and effective carbon rates

In 2021, explicit carbon prices in Germany consist of the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the national ETS permit prices, which together cover 88% of GHG emissions. In total, 94% of GHG emissions (excluding combustion of biomass) are subject to a positive Net Effective Carbon Rate (ECR) in 2021, of which 22% above 120 EUR/tonne, up from 88.4% in 2018. The share of emissions covered by an explicit carbon price has increased by 38% since 2018 following the introduction of the national ETS targeting the transport and heating sectors. Fuel excise taxes, an implicit form of carbon pricing, cover 40% of emissions in 2021, unchanged since 2018. Effective carbon rates are highest in the road transport sector, which accounts for 18% of the country’s total GHG emissions and are rather low in other sectors.

Germany implicitly supports the consumption of fossil fuels through favourable tax treatments, such as reduced energy tax rates to lower the cost of energy consumption in industry, transport and agriculture sectors. In 2021, the bulk of support measures benefitted the industrial and agriculture sectors (55% of total support estimates (TSE)), the electricity generation sector (23% of TSE) and the production sector (14% of TSE) specifically those related to coal. Germany has committed, along with other G7 countries, to phase-out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by 2025. In response to the recent energy crisis, Germany introduced several measures to cushion the impact of rising energy prices on consumers and enterprises.

Technology and innovation

The share of environment-related R&D in total government R&D budgets has been decreasing over the past decades, but saw a rebound in 2021 as part of Germany’s Resilience and Recovery Plan.

The share of environment-related patents in total patents increased until 2011 and despite a rebound in 2018, generally decreased afterwards. It has remained however, above the OECD and OECD Europe averages until 2020. Most patents are filed for protection of patents in the field of climate change mitigation.

Environment-related development assistance

Germany is the second-largest development co-operation provider of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Bilateral co-operation constitutes the bulk of Germany’s official development assistance (ODA), under the overall lead of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), while the Federal Foreign Office oversees humanitarian aid, crisis prevention, stabilisation and peace-building. Germany’s total ODA (USD 35.6 billion) increased in 2022 due to an increase in-donor refugee costs and increased contributions to international organisations. It represented 0.85% of gross national income (GNI). In 2020-21, Germany committed 40% of its total bilateral allocable aid (USD 10.1 billion) in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions (DAC average of 34.3%), down from 49.3% in 2018-19. Eleven percent of screened bilateral allocable aid focused on environmental issues as a principal objective, compared with the DAC average of 11.3%. Thirty-three percent of total bilateral allocable aid focused on climate change overall (the DAC average was 29%), down from 42.2% in 2018-19. Germany had a greater focus on mitigation (22.1%) than on adaptation (19.7%) in 2020-21. Ten percent of total bilateral allocable aid focused on biodiversity (compared with the DAC average of 6.5%), down from 10.1% in 2018-19.

References and further reading

CBD (2022), Country profiles: Germany, https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/?country=de#facts

DESTATIS (2022), “25% less plastic waste exported in 2021 year on year” Press release, https://www.destatis.de/EN/Press/2022/06/PE22_N035_51.html

IEA (2020), Germany 2020 Energy Policy Review, IEA Energy Policy Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/cedb9b0a-en.

OECD (2023), OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Germany 2023, OECD Environmental Performance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/f26da7da-en.

OECD (2023), "Germany", in Development Co-operation Profiles, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/2dcf1367-en

OECD (2022), OECD Economic Outlook, Volume 2022 Issue 1, OECD Publishing,

Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/62d0ca31-en.

OECD (2021), Effective Carbon Rates 2021: Pricing Carbon Emissions through Taxes and Emissions Trading, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/0e8e24f5-en.

UBA (2022a), Environmental indicators: Land-take for settlements and transport infrastructure, https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/data/environmental-indicators/indicator-land-take-for-settlements-transport#at-a-glance

UBA (2022b), National Inventory Report for the German Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990 – 2020, https://unfccc.int/documents/461930

UBA (2022c), Environmental indicators: Raw material consumption, https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/data/environmental-indicators/ndicator-raw-material-consumption#at-a-glance

UBA (2021), Water resource management, https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/topics/water/water-resource-management#undefined

UNEP-WCMC (2024), “Protected Area Profile for Germany”, the World Database of Protected Areas, www.protectedplanet.net