BERLIN, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Germany could save 60 billion euros (64.8 billion U.S. dollars) on its way to climate neutrality by 2045 by taking additional measures immediately in the transport sector, according to a new study.
Under current climate policies, Germany's transport sector is projected to miss its emission reduction targets, resulting in excess emissions of around 590 million tons of CO2 by 2045, according to the study published Monday by the think tank Agora Verkehrswende.
"Political hesitation has a price that is measured either in money or in greenhouse gases, with all the associated risks," said Wiebke Zimmer, deputy director of Agora Verkehrswende.
Although the Europe's largest economy is on track to meet its overall climate targets set for 2030, the transport sector remains "a major problem child," according to the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). Last year, the sector once again exceeded its emission targets despite slight declines.
The government has recently revised the Federal Climate Protection Act, shifting its focus from individual emissions targets for each sector to a comprehensive, multi-year and cross-sectoral calculation as the decisive factor for implementing further measures.
Climate activists criticized the move and vowed to file a lawsuit against it. "There is no provision for the well-being and freedom of future generations," Olaf Bandt, a representative of the Friends of the Earth Germany, has warned at the end of April.
Climate change is projected to cause a loss of 19 percent of income in global economy by 2050, even with a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from now on, according to a recent study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).
"Strong income reductions are projected for the majority of regions, including North America and Europe, with South Asia and Africa being most strongly affected," said PIK scientist Maximilian Kotz last month. (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollar)
