Politics · Climate & transport
Climate and transport: the sector that keeps missing
Transport is the sector in which Germany has made least progress on emissions. Steffen Bilger says he wants it to stop being "the problem child of climate policy". His critics say his refusal of a speed limit and his defence of the combustion engine make that unlikely. This page sets out both sides, with the figures.
Section A — the trajectory
Emissions up, sector targets softened
According to the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA), transport emitted 146.3 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2025, 2.1 million tonnes more than in 2024, even as electric cars gained ground.
Germany's Climate Protection Act (Klimaschutzgesetz) sets a path to climate neutrality by 2045. Until 2024 it gave each sector, including transport, binding annual emission budgets, and the responsible ministry had to present an emergency programme if its sector overshot. The amendment that took effect in July 2024, passed by the previous coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP, switched to cross-sector, multi-year accounting. Annual figures for transport are still listed in the law, and the transport ministry must propose measures if its sector contributes to an overall overshoot, but there is no longer a separate binding sector target.
The policy debate is about what closes that gap: faster electrification, more rail and waterway freight, pricing, or restrictions such as a speed limit. Bilger's documented positions favour the first two, reject restrictions and emphasise industrial opportunities. The system-level detail is on Sustainable transport.
The conflict
Position against position
Each row pairs a documented Bilger position with the main documented counter-position. Dates refer to his statements.
Technology openness
2018: Germany as "number one car-making country" should lead "in every technology". Oct 2025: argued for loosening the 2035 combustion-engine ban.
Environmental groups argue that a firm end date for combustion cars gives industry certainty and that delay slows the shift to electric drives.
Speed limit
Aug–Sep 2026: rejects a general limit; doubts large CO₂ savings; prefers telematics; warns of deepening "division in the country".
UBA (2023): 120 km/h would save 6.7 Mt CO₂e a year. The Greens (Aug 2026) urged him to introduce a limit.
Rail versus roads
Sep 2026: about €170 bn for transport investment to 2030; rail funding up €1.8 bn by 2030; new Autobahn financing as a "paradigm shift".
The Greens asked for priority for rail over new Autobahns; Allianz pro Schiene opposed cuts to rail freight support in 2027.
Climate and low water
Aug 2026: federal-state measures against Rhine low water to secure supply chains: "Resilienz entsteht nicht über Nacht."
The Greens said he should acknowledge low water on the Rhine as a consequence of climate change.
Energy (2023, opposition)
Apr 2023: called the nuclear exit "a victory of ideological stubbornness over practical reason" and wanted plants run to at least end-2024.
The then governing parties defended the shutdown as completing the exit decided in 2011, with renewables expanding to replace it.
Mein Ziel ist, dass der Verkehrssektor nicht mehr das Sorgenkind der Klimapolitik ist.
“My aim is that the transport sector is no longer the problem child of climate policy.” (translation)
Steffen Bilger, interview with the Berliner Morgenpost, 14 September 2026 — bmv.de
Section C — instruments
What the ministry has funded since August 2026
Bilger's climate record as minister so far consists of funding announcements. The bars compare the sums; they say nothing about emission reductions, which have not been quantified for these measures.
| Measure | Date | Amount | Scale | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eSAF double auction with Austria and Luxembourg (German share) | 21 Sep | up to €2 bn | Needs EU state-aid approval | |
| Fast-charging network for electric trucks, ~350 Autobahn sites | 15 Sep | ~€1 bn | First contracts awarded; second tender in preparation | |
| Green inland-waterway corridors | 10 Aug | €70 m | Funding announced | |
| Ground power and pre-conditioned air at airports | 9 Sep | €25.6 m | 15 grant decisions to 12 recipients | |
| Zero-emission inland vessels ("Green Inland Shipping", second line) | 21 Aug | up to €14 m | Funding call |
eSAF as "industrial opportunity"
Documented position
eSAF ist für mich nicht nur eine Frage der Klimapolitik, sondern auch eine industriepolitische Chance.
("For me, eSAF is not only a question of climate policy but also an industrial-policy opportunity." 21 Sep 2026.)
Policy context
Electricity-based kerosene is far more expensive than fossil fuel. The auction pays the difference between producers' and buyers' prices. Aviation's climate impact also includes non-CO₂ effects that fuel substitution addresses only partly.
Electric trucks
Documented position
The ministry quotes him saying a nationwide, user-friendly charging network lets electric trucks work in hauliers' daily operations and creates the conditions for decarbonising freight.
Policy context
Road freight carries about 70 per cent of tonne-kilometres. The network targets about 1,800 megawatt-class (MCS) and 2,400 CCS charging points. See Freight transport.
Critics
"He must also be a climate minister"
On 8 August 2026, ten days after his appointment, the Greens demanded that the new minister also act as a "climate minister".
According to reports in the Handelsblatt and Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, they called for a speed limit, priority for rail over new motorways, and recognition that the Rhine's low water is a consequence of climate change. The reports available did not name an individual speaker.
The Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), whose charitable status Bilger's CDU district had sought to remove in 2018, criticised the 2027 Deutschlandticket price rise, with its federal director Jürgen Resch calling public transport "social participation". Environmental associations including BUND, DUH and DNR opposed the planning-acceleration law that Bilger supports.
From the other side, the AfD's Wolfgang Wiehle demanded in the budget debate more money for motorway repairs relative to rail. Bilger's line sits between these poles: substantial investment in rail and alternative drives, no restrictions on driving.
Interpretation
How to weigh the record
Bilger's climate approach, as documented, relies on supply-side measures: funding for new fuels, charging networks, cleaner vessels and rail freight. He rejects demand-side restrictions such as a speed limit and has argued against a fixed end date for combustion cars. Supporters see this as a realistic path that keeps public acceptance; critics argue that funding alone has not bent the emissions curve in transport, which rose again in 2025.
Ten weeks into his term, there is no emissions result to judge. The measurable tests will be the UBA's 2026 figures, published in spring 2027, and whether the transport ministry is required to propose additional measures under the Climate Protection Act. Related pages: Mobility & society for the speed-limit arguments in full, and Political positions for the earlier record.
Sources
- ecomento — Treibhausgasdaten zeigen laut UBA: Klimaschutz braucht neuen Schub (16 Mar 2026)
- hib — transport emissions 2025 (source of the unverified allowance figure) (2026)
- electrive — Ampel-Parteien heben CO2-Sektorziele auf (16 Apr 2024)
- BMV — Klimaschutzziele und Beschlüsse
- eurotransport / trans aktuell — Interview with Steffen Bilger (7 Sep 2018)
- Berliner Zeitung — Bilger on the combustion-engine ban (8 Oct 2025)
- BMV — Interview with Bild (9 Aug 2026)
- BMV — Interview with Berliner Morgenpost (14 Sep 2026)
- evangelisch.de (epd) — UBA: Tempolimit spart mehr CO2 als gedacht (23 Jan 2023)
- Handelsblatt — Grüne: Neuer Verkehrsminister muss mehr fürs Klima tun (8 Aug 2026)
- Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung — same report (8 Aug 2026)
- Bundesregierung — Speech by Steffen Bilger on the 2027 budget (8 Sep 2026)
- Bahnblogstelle — Allianz pro Schiene: fünf Forderungen (19 Aug 2026)
- BMV press release 075/2026 — Niedrigwasser (12 Aug 2026)
- Deutscher Bundestag — Aktuelle Stunde zur Kernkraft (19 Apr 2023)
- BMV press release 088/2026 — eSAF-Förderung (21 Sep 2026)
- BMV press release 087/2026 — Lkw-Schnellladenetz (15 Sep 2026)
- BMV press release 074/2026 — Grüne Binnenschifffahrtskorridore (10 Aug 2026)
- BMV press release 083/2026 — Klimafreundliche Infrastruktur an Flughäfen (9 Sep 2026)
- BMV press release 078/2026 — Emissionsfreie Binnenschiffe (21 Aug 2026)
- Destatis — Güterbeförderung
- ARD Monitor — CDU gegen DUH (6 Dec 2018)
- evangelisch.de (epd) — Kritik an teurerem Deutschlandticket (30 Sep 2026)
- evangelisch.de (epd) — Umweltverbände kritisieren Infrastruktur-Zukunftsgesetz (11 Dec 2025)
- Deutscher Bundestag — Debate on the 2027 transport budget (8 Sep 2026)