Germany files 2045 coal, oil and gas exit plan with the United Nations
Berlin has submitted to the UN a roadmap for a complete phase-out of coal, oil and natural gas by 2045, presented by Environment Minister Carsten Schneider in New York. Fossil fuels covered 65 percent of German energy consumption in 2024, with 98 percent of mineral oil and 95 percent of natural gas imported at a cost of 76 billion euros. Environmental groups welcomed the plan while criticising current policy.
Germany has submitted to the United Nations a roadmap setting out how it intends to complete its exit from coal, oil and natural gas by 2045. Environment Minister Carsten Schneider presented the document in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the news agency dpa-AFX reported. The German federal cabinet discussed the roadmap on Wednesday, before it was filed in New York.
An import bill of 76 billion euros
Fossil fuels still accounted for 65 percent of German energy consumption in 2024, according to figures cited by Schneider. In the same year, 98 percent of the mineral oil and 95 percent of the natural gas used in the country was imported, leaving both fuels almost entirely exposed to international supply and price conditions.
The total cost of those fossil imports reached 76 billion euros in 2024 and has risen sharply since, which the minister attributed to the Iran crisis. Schneider framed the phase-out first as a question of exposure to supply shocks and household costs, and only then as climate policy.
- Share of fossil fuels in German energy consumption in 2024: 65 percent
- Imported share of mineral oil: 98 percent; of natural gas: 95 percent
- Cost of fossil energy imports in 2024: 76 billion euros
Berlin's case for the 2045 date
“Moving away from fossil energy combines independence, affordability and climate protection,” Schneider said in New York. “Our roadmap is meant to set an international signal. I am certain that many more countries will follow.”
The minister linked fuel prices directly to household budgets. “Every one of us notices, when filling up with petrol or diesel, how much the global situation hits the wallet,” he told journalists, adding that this threatens the financial security of many people and companies and holds back growth. On oil supply routes he said: “If the situation in the Strait of Hormuz decides whether people can still afford the daily trip to work, that is not a good state of affairs. We have to overcome the dependence on fossil energy and we can overcome it.”
Schneider called both the switch and the timetable to 2045 feasible. He pointed to a rapidly rising share of renewables in Germany, an accelerating ramp-up of electric mobility, and the fact that in 2025 more heat pumps were sold than gas heating systems for the first time.
International context and domestic criticism
At the 2023 climate conference in Dubai the international community agreed on a gradual move away from oil, coal and gas, but did not specify when or how this should happen. No further detail was agreed at the most recent summit in Brazil either. In April, 57 states including Germany met at a separate conference to discuss how a phase-out could be implemented in practice.
The environmental organisations BUND, Germanwatch and Greenpeace welcomed the government's roadmap. “With this announcement Germany is showing a sign of life in international climate policy,” said Greenpeace energy expert Mira Jäger. At the same time she criticised the government for subsidising the oil industry, slowing the heating transition and decelerating the expansion of renewables.