Brandenburg's Climate Plan 2045: Signpost for a sustainable future decided!

Brandenburg's Climate Plan 2045: Signpost for a sustainable future decided!

On February 28, 2025, the new Brandenburg climate guide was presented at the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) in Potsdam. At the opening, Dr. Friederike Haase, State Secretary in the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labor, Energy and Climate Protection. She emphasized the central role of the climate guide within the climate plan for climate neutrality and future viability of the state of Brandenburg, which was adopted in 2024. This plan includes a total of 103 measures in areas such as energy, transport and bioeconomy, with the ambitious goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2045.

The climate guide is intended to serve as a guide for decision-makers from politics, administration, business and society. It presents the climate protection-relevant activities of the research institutions and is intended to improve the networking of actors from science and business. Haase particularly emphasized the potential of this networking for the accelerated practical application of innovative solutions.

Topic areas of the climate guide

The climate guide is divided into ten thematic areas, including:

• Energie und Wasserstoff
• Bauen, Wohnen und Wärme
• Klimaneutrale Wirtschaft und Industrie, Abfall- und Kreislaufwirtschaft
• Verkehr und Mobilität
• Landwirtschaft und Ernährung
• Landnutzung, Forstwirtschaft und Senkenwirkung
• Bioökonomie
• Treibhausgasneutrale Landesverwaltung, kommunaler Klimaschutz und Klima-Governance
• Bürger*innenbeteiligung, Klimabildung und nachhaltiger Konsum
• Klimasystemforschung

The Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region, a center for science and research, plays a crucial role in achieving climate goals. Professor Roh-Pin Lee from BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg gave a keynote speech on decarbonizing carbon-intensive industries. During a panel discussion moderated by Julia Miosga, experts including State Secretary Tobias Dünow and Prof. Dr. Hermann Lotze-Campen, the implementation of the Brandenburg climate plan.

Significant progress in climate protection

Brandenburg has already made significant progress in the area of ​​climate protection. Greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced from 125 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents since 1990 to 53.8 million tonnes in 2020, a decrease of 57%. The plan calls for reducing these emissions by 74% compared to 1990 by 2030 and achieving a 96% reduction by 2040. A current focus is on the coal phase-out, which is intended to save around 16 million tons of CO2 emissions by 2030, particularly through the closure of the Jänschwalde lignite power plant.

Agricultural land should be increasingly used to store CO2, while at the same time industrial processes must be converted to climate-neutral processes. The proposal to decarbonize cement production by 2030 is an example of the desired climate-friendly transformation of the industry.

In addition, the Climate Neutrality Foundation has formulated 55 policy recommendations for the 21st legislative period to ensure that Germany achieves its national interim climate target for 2030. These recommendations aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% ​​compared to 1990 and initiate a comprehensive reform of climate policy instruments. The recommendations are based on knowledge-based insights into the current climate debate and offer regulatory proposals for various sectors, from the energy industry to agriculture.

Brandenburg's initiative and the accompanying measures show that a broad network of actors must work together to achieve these ambitious climate goals. Implementation requires large investments, which are made taking into account the country's financial capabilities.

The Brandenburg climate plan can be viewed online at brandenburg.de can be viewed.

Further information about the climate guide is available b-tu.de, while the comprehensive policy approaches of the Climate Neutrality Foundation originate.