More than half of leading politicians’ work vehicles exceed EU targets for average CO2 emissions and the fleet as a whole would run over its carbon budget, a climate group said on Tuesday.
The German non-profit environmental and consumer protection association DUH, known as Environmental Action Germany in English, found only modest improvement over 2024’s figures in the 19th annual study of its kind.
It drew parallels between the political community and .
“The sluggish progress toward environmentally sustainable official vehicles is emblematic of the entire , which is lagging behind massively in climate protection,” DUH’s executive director Barbara Metz said in a statement. “Instead of seriously pursuing the switch to futuristic electric power, the federal government is concentrating on pollutant petrol and diesel limousines.”
What were the core findings of the CO2 emissions study?
In total, DUH estimated that 151 of 238 cars it evaluated exceeded the EU’s average emissions target for of 93.6 grams of CO2 per kilometer driven. That’s 63% of the evaluated vehicles, compared to just under 74% a year ago.
A green card was awarded to any vehicle at or below the target, a yellow card to any exceeding it by less than 20 grams per kilometer, and a red card for anything above that.
Seven of the 11 federal government ministers included in the study used vehicles earning them a red card, compared to seven of nine in 2024.
Seven ministries as a whole were given a green card for their fleets; two were yellow, and seven red.
“With this, despite the continuing climate crisis, there was no sign of a consequential switch toward more efficient vehicles in the federal Cabinet, even after the change of government” earlier this year, DUH said on Tuesday.
Environment ministries, at the state and federal level, did fare slightly better — with 12 of them being given top marks and only four receiving red cards.
How was the data calculated?
The study was based on global figures seeking to calculate so-called “real world emissions,” rather than industry numbers from standardized tests. It also sought to incorporate the environmental impact of electric vehicles by using DUH’s data for the average CO2 costs of German electricity generation in 2024.
The study noted an increase in the number of wholly electric cars in the federal government’s fleet — from 50% last year to 57% — but said that their energy consumption varied considerably, and pledged closer scrutiny of their environmental impact in future as well.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, almost all the cars studied were German-manufactured, larger, luxury vehicles made by BMW, Audi or Mercedes — cars suited to having the guest of honor sit in the back and not in the front.
This meant that even the plug-in hybrids in the fleet tended to weigh in at roughly double the levels of the EU benchmarks, given their hefty size and weight. However, DUH was estimating these vehicles’ emissions when being driven without any electric power, saying “these cars are predominantly driven with empty batteries.”
Which politicians were singled out for pillory, or praise?
state premier was singled out for having the most thirsty official vehicle, with his car emissions estimated at 292 grams of CO2 per kilometer, more than three times the EU average target.
Germany’s only Green state premier, Winfried Kretschmann from the neighboring carmaking southern state of , was credited with just 70 grams of CO2 per kilometer driven.
And perhaps fittingly, Environment Minister Carsten Schneider’s vehicle was found to emit the least of any federal minister, at 62 grams per kilometer. But Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder, “who really ought to know better,” as DUH put it, was given a red card for his plug-in hybrid’s emissions.
Green party boasts cleanest fleet
The city state of Bremen’s environment senator, Kathrin Moosdorf, was hailed for her official bicycle, as was Hamburg’s traffic senator, Anjes Tjarks, for having no business vehicle of any kind. Both politicians represent the Greens.
The DUH said that only the Greens could “demonstrate an acceptable fleet of official vehicles,” with average emissions of 85 grams per kilometer.
Both the center-left Social Democrats, at 151 grams, and the center-right CDU/CSU, at 160 grams, comfortably exceeded the EU benchmark.
The most senior politicians, with heavily armored cars, excluded from study
If you’re wondering how Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other leading lights in national politics fared, DUH’s study can’t help.
The chancellor and deputy chancellor — as well as the ministers for finance, the interior, defense and health — were all excluded from the study. The reason for this is that these vehicles are all armored, meaning that they are sure to be much heavier than standard models and therefore less energy efficient.
Given the sensitive nature of the data about exactly how much weight was added and where, DUH elected not to include them.
The group also noted that some of its estimates for other politicians in need of armored vehicles could therefore be lower than the real values, with its figures based on a standard-issue model.
Edited by: Rana Taha
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