Germany submitted a national roadmap to the United Nations on Wednesday, September 24, 2026, pledging a complete phase-out of coal, oil, and natural gas by 2045. The plan aims to secure energy independence and climate protection, making Germany the third country to provide such a detailed strategy following France and the Netherlands.
Environment Minister Carsten Schneider presented the plan during the UN General Assembly in New York, framing the transition as a necessity for national security. He linked the decision directly to the instability caused by the Iran war and its volatile effect on global fuel supplies.
Schneider said that extreme weather events around the world are not the only indicators of the urgent need to do more for climate protection.
Carsten Schneider, Environment Minister
The €76 Billion Import Burden
The economic stakes of the transition are rooted in a heavy reliance on foreign energy. In 2024, fossil fuels accounted for 65 percent of Germany’s energy consumption. The vast majority of these resources were not domestic; 98 percent of the country’s oil and 95 percent of its natural gas were imported.
These imports cost Germany €76 billion ($86.5 billion) in 2024. According to Schneider, these costs have risen sharply since then due to the crisis in Iran.
Schneider noted that it is not a good state of affairs if the situation in the Strait of Hormuz determines whether people can still afford their daily commute to work.
By eliminating these dependencies, the government argues it can stabilize costs for citizens.
Schneider asserted that dependency on fossil fuels must be overcome and that it is possible to do so.
Internal Friction: Renewables vs. Gas
While the roadmap sets a hard deadline for 2045, the path there is contested within the German government. Energy Minister Katherina Reiche of the conservative Christian Democrats has pushed for the construction of new gas-fired power plants. Reiche argues these plants are necessary to stabilize the electricity grid and balance the intermittent nature of solar and wind power.
This tension extends to the automotive sector. The phase-out plan envisions a future where battery-electric cars make up 100 percent of new passenger car registrations by 2035. However, Reiche has demanded that combustion-engine vehicles using alternative fuels maintain a larger role, reflecting the weight of the car industry in the national economy.
Environmental groups have reacted with cautious optimism. While organizations including BUND and Germanwatch welcomed the move, others pointed to contradictions in current policy.
Mira Jäger, a Greenpeace energy expert, said that Germany is showing a sign of life in international climate policy with this announcement.
Jäger noted that the federal government is simultaneously subsidizing the oil industry, hindering the heating transition, and slowing the expansion of renewables.
Fentje Jacobsen, a climate policy adviser at the World Wide Fund for Nature, suggested the plan rehashed existing initiatives rather than introducing new ambitions, noting that the government is currently planning to rely more on gas and less on renewables.
Feasibility and Global Influence
Despite the internal debate, the government points to specific markers of progress as evidence that the 19-year deadline is achievable. In 2025, more heat pumps were sold than gas heating systems for the first time, and the adoption of electromobility is gaining momentum.
This roadmap follows a broader international trend. Nearly 200 countries committed to a fossil fuel phase-out at the 2023 COP28 conference in Dubai, though specific timelines remained elusive until recently. In April, Germany joined 56 other states at a conference hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands to discuss the concrete achievement of these goals.
Schneider said that the road map is intended to set an international example and that he is sure many other countries will follow.