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Germany Asked to Overhaul Its Car Taxation to Meet Climate Goals
- Transport industry emissions have risen in the past two years
- OECD sees need to cut climate-harmful subsidies of €65 billion
Motorists wait in traffic in Berlin.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Germany should cut tax breaks and other subsidies on cars in order to stem the trend of rising carbon emissions in the transport industry, the OECD said in a report.
Europe’s largest economy is among the world’s top ten emitters of carbon emissions, and transport is the country’s problem child. Emissions from cars, trucks, ships and planes rose 0.7% to 148 million tons in 2022 — the second consecutive increase after a pandemic-related dip — and are crucial in Germany’s bid to slash emissions by two thirds by 2030, compared with 1990 levels.