The German parties negotiating a coalition government deal agreed on January 8th to no longer aim for the country's domestic climate action goal by 2020, German media reported.

The decision by the prospective coalition partners to no longer pursue the 40 percent reduction target at all costs will not affect the EU's climate targets for 2020, since Germany's self-imposed goal was more stringent than that agreed in an EU framework.

The Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland newsroom cited a discussion paper from the coalition talks between the centre-right CDU and CSU parties and the centre-left SPD. The paper said that Germany's goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent in 2020, compared to 1990, was not achievable.

It is caused in part by chancellor Angela Merkel's 2011 decision to suddenly phase out nuclear power after the Fukushima accident. Nuclear power, though not without hazard, emits much less greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuels.

Read the full article on German 2020 climate targets by Peter Teffer at EUobserver