SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and FDP have agreed on a coalition agreement, presented under the name “Dare more progress. Alliance for Freedom, Justice and Sustainability” on 24 November 2021. In the study commissioned by Climate Alliance Germany, DIW Econ, together with Prof. Dr Claudia Kemfert, DIW Berlin, evaluated the climate policy measures of the coalition agreement in the sectors of energy, industry, transport, buildings and agriculture (analogous to the Federal Climate Protection Act) as well as in a cross-sectoral category. The coalition agreement was examined to determine whether Germany can achieve the Paris climate target or at least the 2030 emission reduction targets enshrined in the Climate Protection Act with the guidelines, targets, and policies set out in the agreement’s text over the next four years.

During the Winter 2021 semi-annual Energy Systems Analysis Program (ETSAP) Meeting on 29th – 30th November 2021, DIW Econ presented a novel approach to integrate three different models – energy system TIMES model, macroeconomic CGE model and sectoral system dynamics (SD) model –into a hybrid integrated assessment model to support the elaboration of a long-term low-emission development strategy (LEDS) for Kazakhstan.

DIW Econ conducted the third study on the economic impact of the gypsum industry on behalf of the Federal Association of the Gypsum Industry. In this update, the study focuses on the year 2020 and examines the entire Harz region, including the previously examined southern Harz region.

Overall, the economic activities of gypsum mining and producing companies in the Harz region generated gross value-added effects of 318.9 million euros throughout Germany in 2020, of which 153.3 million euros were generated in the Harz region itself. At the same time, the companies in the gypsum industry secured over 4,600 jobs in Germany.

On behalf of the Climate Neutrality Foundation, DIW Econ together with Prof Dr Claudia Kemfert, DIW Berlin, analyse the party election programmes for the 2021 Bundestag elections of CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, Die Linke and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen in the current study.

The study examines whether the climate policy measures and proposals set out in the election programmes are sufficient to achieve the emission reduction targets of the new Climate Protection Act (Klimaschutzgesetz – KSG) by 2030.

The discourse on climate policy to achieve internationally agreed climate targets in Germany is often narrowed down to the instrument of CO2 pricing.

However, the current study by DIW Econ with Prof. Dr Claudia Kemfert, Head of the Department of Energy, Transport and Environment at DIW, commissioned by Greenpeace, shows that a price on CO2 by itself is by far not sufficient to achieve Germany’s agreed climate goals. This can only be achieved with the help of a policy mix of CO2 pricing and complementary regulatory instruments and measures.