The German government will slash its commitment to a global fund to assist developing nations deal with the effects of climate change, despite a pledge made former chancellor Angela Merkel, reports say.
Climate activists have criticised the move, which was first flagged even as the COP30 meeting of nations took place in Belém, Brazil, where finance from richer countries to help developing nations meet climate targets was under discussion,
EUR Active says that “poorer nations insist at every annual climate summit that countries that became rich by exploiting fossil fuels – meaning Europe and the US, according to an outdated UN definition – ought to help them mitigate the impacts of a warming planet.”
Germany had contributed €6 billion towards the €100 billion goal for the fund for poorer countries in 2024, but that total annual goal was set to triple to €300 in the next ten years, even as Germany’s economy continues to falter and teeters on recession.
Germany’s energy crisis worsened following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and its emphasis on green energy has also driven up energy prices to a point where industry has been negatively impacted.
Earlier this year, Reuters reported that “clean energy sources generated the smallest amount of Germany’s electricity in over a decade so far in 2025, dealing a blow to the energy transition momentum of Europe’s largest economy.”
“That clean energy volume is down 16% from the same months in 2024 and is the lowest for that period since at least 2015. To compensate for the drop in clean electricity supplies, German power firms were forced to lift fossil fuel power output by 10% from a year ago, and the share of fossil fuels in the German generation mix has climbed to its highest since 2018.”
Now, it appears that the largest economy in Europe may be rowing back on commitments to climate funds – ahead of an expected tripling of the expected contribution. Ute Sudmann, a finance specialist at Germanwatch, an NGO, told EUR Activ that slashing the climate finance budget was a “fatal signal” to other countries.
Euractiv has reviewed a draft budget hammered out during a gruelling 15-hour negotiation in Berlin on Thursday, which shows that cuts to the development ministry budget will result in an annual reduction of around €1.5 billion.
Under the heading of ‘bilateral government development cooperation’ – also known as ‘budget line 2301’ – the ministry’s fiscal headroom is being significantly reduced, from around €6 billion to just €4.58 billion.
“Even Germany’s development ministry no longer expects the country to meet its €6 billion climate finance pledge,” said green MP Jamila Schäfer. “The gap between promises and action is measured in rising temperatures, lost livelihoods and broken trust.”
The Irish government more than doubled its funding of climate finance to at least €225 million per year by 2025, an increase from approximately €90 million in 2020. 85% of that spend went to developing countries, Irish Aid said.
In the first half of 2025, on a global scale, while fossil fuel production increased, renewables overtook coal as the top source of global electricity, according to analysts.