German Emissions Fell Only Modestly in 2025

Reuters

13:15 JST, January 23, 2026

BERLIN (Reuters) — Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions fell only marginally in 2025, as weak progress in cutting pollution from buildings and transport weighed on the overall climate balance, energy think tank Agora Energiewende said on Jan. 7.

Germany emitted 640 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2025, down 1.5% or 9 million tons from the previous year, Agora said in its annual review.

While Germany met its national annual emissions target for 2025, the reduction was less than half the savings recorded in 2024, Agora’s calculations showed.

The decline in 2025 emissions was driven partly by lower output in energy-intensive industry amid prolonged weak demand and strained global market conditions, and partly by record solar power generation, Agora said.

“Wind and solar energy will remain the backbone of Germany’s energy transition in 2025 as well,” said Julia Blaesius, director of Agora Energiewende Germany.

“However, the power sector — so far the driving force behind emissions reductions — cannot permanently compensate for the shortcomings in switching to climate technologies in transport and buildings,” Blaesius said. Emissions in buildings rose by 3.2% compared with 2024 and emissions in the transport sector rose by 1.4% on the year, Agora estimated.