Germany to hike 2030 CO2 emissions reduction target to 65%

Germany is planning more ambitious carbon emission reduction targets, aiming for a cut of 65% by 2030 and 88% by 2040, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday.

Under the new targets, Germany will also aim for nearly net-zero emissions by 2045, five years earlier than initially planned, he said.

Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said: "Each decade, each generation takes responsibility."

Last week, Germany's constitutional court said the government had failed to set out how it would bring carbon emissions down beyond 2030 to almost zero by 2050, and that this was unfairly burdening future generations.

Two sources told Reuters on Tuesday that Chancellor Angela Merkel expects a reform of Germany's climate change law to go to cabinet in the coming week.

The 2019 law, agreed between Merkel's conservatives and their Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners after much wrangling, included a commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 55% by 2030 from 1990 levels.

It also has a goal of being almost net-zero CO2 by 2050.