Chancellor Merz: Germany must act now on climate protection!

Chancellor Merz: Germany must act now on climate protection!

On November 8, 2025, at the “World Climate Leaders’ Summit” in Brazil, Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized the urgency of climate protection. In his speech, he made it clear that the world is heading towards numerous climate tipping points and the responsibility to prevent them is shared globally. Germany plays a special role in this, not least because of its high emissions, even though Merz emphasized that Germany is only responsible for two percent of global emissions.

Merz's speech came in a critical context, as many organizations and experts criticize his government for making concessions to the fossil lobby in energy policy. Calculations show that the federal government's current measures, including the attempt to overturn the ban on combustion engines in the EU, financing natural gas aid from the climate fund and a possible delay in the expansion of green electricity, are hardly sufficient to achieve the climate goals. In addition, the threat of a weakening of the EU CO2 targets for 2035 and 2040 was seen as worrying.

Technological openness and climate goals

In his speech, Merz also emphasized the need for technological openness and innovation to combat climate change in order to ensure both competitiveness and security. This hits a nerve, especially in light of the EU's common climate goals, which aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2040 compared to 1990. Ambitious reduction targets of between 66.25% and 72.5% by 2035 were formulated for COP30.

In addition, the Chancellor emphasized the central importance of tropical forests as carbon stores. Germany is financially involved in the TFFF (“Tropical Forest Forever Facility”) forest protection fund and relies on CO2 storage as a technical solution in the fight against climate change. These measures are part of a comprehensive plan to allocate around 6 billion euros for climate finance in 2024, supported by mobilized private funds, almost twice as much. Merz called for a global effort to bring climate protection and economic development into harmony.

Global challenge of climate change

The problems of climate change are not just a national but a global risk that requires international solutions and cooperation. In accordance with the goals of the Paris Agreement, global warming should be limited to well below 2 °C, ideally to 1.5 °C, compared to pre-industrial levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Report has urgently highlighted the need for a global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030 and by 60% by 2035 compared to 2019.

Immediate and ambitious efforts are needed to close the unfortunate gap between current measures and the necessary reductions. Germany has the potential to take a leadership role, but the credibility of its actions is being questioned by current political decisions. The international community is pursuing a common course, but the challenges are enormous - the climate needs not just words, but above all actions.

These topics and the important details of the international climate protection agreements illustrate the complexity of global climate policy and the urgency with which politics and society must act to clarify the tense relationship between environmental issues and economic growth.

Climate reporter reports that the challenge is particularly significant for Germany. The federal government highlights the need for innovation and technological solutions while the Federal Environment Agency highlights the major challenges of climate change and the need for international cooperation.