Germany's greenhouse gas emissions took another plunge in 2019, opening the possibility that the country could end up much closer to its initial 2020 climate target than expected as record renewables electricity output, another mild winter and the expected economic impact of the coronavirus were likely to dampen emissions further. The country emitted about 805 million tonnes of CO2 last year, recording a drop of 6.3 percent compared to the year before, the steepest drop since the deep recession of 2009. Emissions were now 35.7 percent lower compared to 1990 levels. The energy generation sector chalked up the greatest reduction, followed by the industry sector, both of which were heavily influenced by rising emissions prices in the European Emissions Trading System (ETS), according to Germany's Federal Environment Agency (UBA).

While the transport and buildings sectors both saw rising emissions, the success in energy and industry emissions reduction means that Germany might edge close to the target of reducing emissions by 40 percent compared to 1990, which the government already thought missed, the UBA found. The figures largely confirm earlier estimates by the energy research group AGEB from late 2019, which already stated that emissions would go down significantly, also helped by lower total energy consumption. The German government had originally planned to cut emissions by 40 percent by 2020, but all but abandoned the target in the course of the coalition talks after the 2017 elections and replaced it with an emissions budget in the new climate law.

"With the exception of the year of the global financial crisis in 2009, there has not been a greater reduction," environment minister Schulze said at a press conference in Berlin. But while the German economy in 2009 contracted by 5 percent, it grew slightly in 2019. "There never has been such a strong decrease during regular economic times," Schulze concluded.

Due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Germany and Europe and the political reactions to contain it, Schulze said the government initially hesitated publishing the emissions figures today, but ultimately opted in favour of presenting them. "We still work on other topics despite the corona crisis," Schulze said, adding that "the climate crisis will not disappear just because it doesn't dominate the headlines for a few months."

The most important factor behind the lower emissions figures was the reduction of coal-fired power production, Schulze said, which itself had been caused both by substitution with natural gas due to lower prices and by rising prices in the EU's ETS, which triggered both lower coal use and greater energy efficiency efforts by industry.