According to the German Environmental Aid (DUH), Germany’s top politicians continue to rely on too many climate -damaging company cars. After evaluating environmental aid, many of their company cars emit significantly more CO₂ than an average current in Germany approved car. According to environmental aid, only 87 out of 238 top politicians drive through the country with pure electric cars.
The “company car check” of German environmental aid published on Tuesday criticizes the cars of seven out of eleven Federal Minister rated. In the DUH test, these seven cabinet members received a “red” map in terms of the CO₂ emissions of their company cars.
Federal Minister of Labor Bärbel BAS (57; SPD), behind it, is the worst, right now Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig (56; SPD) and research minister Dorothee Bär (47; CSU).
Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (49), Minister of Development Reem Alabali-Radovan (35; both SPD) as well as Minister of Education Karin Prien (60) and Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (55; both CDU), on the other hand, set up their company cars Electromobility. Measured by the German electricity mix, the DUH therefore calculates a real CO₂ emissions of the four company cars of 62 to 72 grams per kilometer. The bottom of the BAS comes to 209 grams per kilometer.
Five ministries did not provide any information
For security reasons, five specialist departments did not provide any information about the company cars of their ministers. The same applies to the car from Chancellor Friedrich Merz (69; CDU). On State Secretary Lake, seven ministries received a green one, two a yellow and seven a red card.
According to Duh, only Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (77; Greens) drives an electric car from the 16 heads of the federal states-and received a “green” card with an emissions of 70 grams of CO₂ per kilometer, everyone else received a “red” card. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (58; CSU) with an average CO₂ emissions of 292 grams per kilometer is the bottom.
“If the federal government does not want to lose its credibility towards citizens, it urgently has to change,” said Duh federal manager Barbara Metz. “The same applies to the comparison of the state governments, all of which are above the European fleet average.” Overall, the gap between the drive types is large. Pure electric cars exposed an average of 67 grams of CO₂ per kilometer, with burners 196 grams and 185 grams for plug-in hybrids.
From January to June 2025, the DUH asked the company cars from top politicians at the state and federal level. Employers who changed office after the completion of the survey were not taken into account.
It is best to cut two cabinet members in Hamburg across Germany: Climate native Kathrin Moosdorf (44) and traffic senator Anjes Tjarks (44; both Greens) do without a company car and come on foot or by bike.