Germany’s 2024 greenhouse gas emissions are projected to inflict more than €640 billion in damage, according to new calculations by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) for its “Environmental Cost Manual”.
The UBA’s president, Dirk Messner, explained on Tuesday: “The new manual quantifies the enormous damage our emissions cause here and worldwide. If we take the harm to current and future generations seriously, climate protection must be viewed as a central economic and social safeguard. Every tonne of greenhouse gases we save reduces real damages-in health, prosperity, infrastructure and economic performance”.
Under the UBA’s calculations, giving equal weight to the well‑being of today’s and tomorrow’s generations yields €1,000 per tonne of CO₂ in damage costs for the year 2026. By comparison, the national emissions trading scheme currently assigns a CO₂ price of only €55 to €65 per tonne for heating oil, gasoline and diesel.
The agency emphasizes that these calculations enable a better assessment of the benefits of preventive measures and allow their incorporation into political and economic decisions. In the public sector, environmental cost data can improve the evaluation of the impacts of new laws or infrastructure projects. In the private sector, the figures can support sustainability reporting and help evaluate investment choices.
