The UN recently released a report outlining the urgent dangers of climate change. This has led to debates about how individual countries are implementing carbon laws to reduce emissions, specifically Germany.

A British MP stated that major countries are vital to reducing the effects of climate change. One such country being targeted by the MP, John Redwood, is Germany. Mr. Redwood is quoted as saying “It’s only going to work if Germany, which puts out twice as much as we do, starts to take the issue seriously and closes down its coal power stations.”

According to the European Environment Agency, Germany produced 853.3 Mt of carbon dioxide emissions in 2019. In the same year, the UK produced 365.1 metric tons of CO2. The evidence does support Mr. Redwood’s claims.

However, many factors come into play for these numbers. Manufacturing is a large industry in Germany. 23% of Germany’s GDP comes from manufacturing, compared to 11% of the UK’s GDP. Manufacturing is a high-emitting industry.

In addition, the UK has a smaller population. Around 17 million more people live in Germany.

One massive problem facing the central European nation is its reliance on coal power. Around 25% of German power comes from coal power plants. Coal is one of the worst ways to produce power in terms of reducing carbon emissions.

Germany has pledged to remove all coal power plants by 2038 but that may not be fast enough to stop climate change.