Air pollution in Germany

rdf:langString Air pollution in Germany

rdf:langString Air pollution in Germany has significantly decreased over the past decade. Air pollution occurs when harmful substances are released into the Earth's atmosphere. These pollutants are released through human activity and natural sources. Germany took interest in reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by switching to renewable energy sources. Renewable energy use rate from 6.3% in 2000 to 34% in 2016. Through the transition to renewable energy sources, some people believe Germany has become the climate change policy leader and renewable energy leader in the European Union (EU) and in the world with ambitious climate change programs, though Germany's CO2 emissions per capita are in fact among the highest in Europe, almost twice those of e.g. France. The current goal of the German government was approved on 14 November 2016 in the German Climate Action Plan 2050, which outlines measures by which Germany can meet its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. By 2050, Germany wants to reduce their GHGs by 80 to 95% and by 2030 they want to reduce it by 55%, compared to the EU target of 40%. In order to achieve these goals, a variety of strategies and policies are used rather than legislation. The four strategies the German government bases air pollution control on are laying down environmental quality standards, emission reduction requirements according to the best available technology, production regulations, and laying down emission ceilings. Through these strategies, policy instruments have been put in place that have contributed to the success of the significant air pollution reduction in Germany. These instruments include the Federal Emission Control Act and Implementing Ordinances, Technical Instructions on Air Quality Control (TA Luft), Amendment to Ordinance on Small Firing Installations, Implementation of the directive on industrial emissions, and Transboundary air pollution control policy. The German Feed-in-Tariff policy introduced in 2000 led to the significant increase in renewable energy use and decreasing air pollution. They have been introduced in Germany to increase the use of renewables, such as wind power, biomass, hydropower, geothermal power, and photovoltaics, thereby reducing GHG emissions causing air pollution and combating climate change. The German government has been an agenda setter in international climate policy negotiations since the late 1980s. However, national and global climate policies have become a top priority since the conservative-social democratic government came into power in 2005, pushing both European and international climate negotiations. Positive path dependency in Germany's climate and energy policies has occurred over the past 20 years. There are three main triggers that put Germany on this positive path dependency and what led them to becoming a climate change policy leader. The first being the widespread damages to health, due to smog, and to nature, due to acid rain, caused by air pollution. The second being the shock of the two oil price crises, in 1973 and 1979, that highlighted the problem of the German economy's strong dependence on unsure foreign sources. The third being the growing opposition to the country's growing reliance on nuclear energy. Air pollution began to be seen as a problem in Germany due to these three triggers, causing Germany to put policies into place to control air pollution. This has now developed from controlling air pollution to being a leader in climate change politics.