New climate change goals to cost Germany €310 billion

Germany's ambitious plans to fight climate change will cost Europe's largest economy €310 billion, Manager Magazin reported on Friday.

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Berlin wants to set targets at the United Nations conference in Copenhagen this December to reduce fossil fuel emissions from their 1990 level by 40 percent before 2020, the magazine reported.

But a study conducted by business consultancy Deloitte for the magazine’s latest issue found that German industries will have to pony up large sums of cash to comply.

The construction industry will be hardest hit by compulsory cuts in greenhouse gasses in the coming years, having to invest some €150 billion to renovate buildings for energy efficiency, the study said. But rent regulations and the results of the financial crisis will prove to be sizeable hurdles in finishing the job, according to the magazine.

Meanwhile the transportation, logistics and energy sectors will have to make the most structural changes to achieve higher energy efficiency – after already significantly reducing their consumption in recent years, the study found.

They will not only have to implement new technology and use new energy sources, but also fundamentally change their business practices much more quickly than previous adjustments, the magazine said.