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Germany becomes third country to map out transition away from fossil fuels

Wind turbines along the Autobahn in Germany. Photo by Usien, Wikipedia

First France, then the Netherlands. Now Germany has become the third country to present a national roadmap for transitioning away from fossil fuels.

The roadmap, presented at the UN headquarters during Climate Week NYC, sets out how Europe’s largest economy intends to move away from coal, oil and gas across electricity, transport, heating and industry, with the aim of ending its reliance on fossil fuels by 2045.

Germany currently gets around 65% of its energy from fossil fuels, making the roadmap a significant step in translating the global commitment to transition away from fossil fuels into national policy.

From science to action in New York 
— catch up on what you missed

Professor Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, gave a keynote on the latest Planetary Health Check report. 

So what does it mean that Europe’s biggest economy has now produced its roadmap away from fossil fuels? And how can it inspire others to follow?

“I think the German roadmap is very exciting, and it gives enough time, prior to COP31, for other roadmaps to come in,” said Tzeporah Berman, Chair of the Fossil Fuel Treaty, in our third and final broadcast from Climate Week NYC.

In our two sessions on the Santa Marta Process, broadcast from the NEST Campus in Manhattan, government representatives, scientists, economists, and civil society representatives involved in the process explained what has happened since Santa Marta, how the process feeds into COP31 in Antalya in November, and what needs to happen before the second conference kicks off in Tuvalu in the Pacific in July 2027.

Among our other major themes at Climate Week NYC: