KfW Research: Unternehmen in Deutschland investieren weniger, auch in den Klimaschutz

• Enterprises have reduced their climate investments to EUR 80 billion from EUR 85 billion a year before
• Drop is similar to the decline in overall investment
• On a price-adjusted basis, small and medium-sized enterprises increased their climate investment by 7.8 per cent, while large enterprises reduced it by 18.5 per cent
• Renewable electricity generation and storage, energy upgrades to buildings and green mobility are most common types of investment

Businesses in Germany invested less in climate action last year than the year before. Their total domestic climate investment fell by 5.5per cent to EUR 80 billion. Adjusted for price variations, the drop was actually 7.8 per cent. Thus, climate investment was on a level similar to total investment in the German business sector, so that on a proportionate basis the volume remained comparable to that of 2023. In 2024, 16.5 per cent of all business investment went to climate action, after 17.0 per cent in 2023. Despite the decrease in volume, the share of climate investment thus remains above the levels recorded in 2021 and 2022.

These are the findings of the KfW Climate Barometer, which KfW Research has produced for the fourth time this year. It provides what is thus far the only representative database for the investment behaviour of German businesses – from micro-businesses to large enterprises – in the area of climate action. Climate-positive investments are defined as investments in measures aimed at avoiding or mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from the relevant business.

The drop in climate investment was driven by large enterprises. Last year they spent only EUR 42 billion on measures aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, after EUR 50 billion in 2023 – a decline in real terms of 18.5 per cent. Small and medium-sized enterprises, on the other hand, increased their total climate investment by EUR 3 billion to EUR 38 billion. That was a significant increase of 7.8 per cent in real terms, which is higher than the growth in total gross fixed capital formation in this segment (1.3 per cent in real terms).

“The difficult economic situation and growing international competitive pressure are a burden on many enterprises and reducing their scope for investing in climate solutions. More large enterprises than before are reporting that they see other issues as more important than climate action. Businesses are also aware that customers are demanding less climate action from them and responding accordingly,”

said Dr Dirk Schumacher, Chief Economist of KfW.

What is encouraging, however, is that the share of businesses investing in climate action continued to grow among large enterprises as well, reaching a record 86 per cent in 2024 (+3 percentage points on the previous year). The fact that the sum of total investments by large enterprises shrank nevertheless is due to the significant drop in the average investment amount per business.

The number of active investors increased among SMEs as well, with 15 per cent investing in climate action, almost twice as many as in the previous year. It is true that the average amount invested per SME also decreased from EUR 146,000 in 2023 to EUR 91,000 in 2024. Nevertheless, the significant increase in the number of investing businesses in this enterprise segment led to a higher overall investment total.

Measures most commonly implemented by businesses involve the generation or storage of electricity and heat from renewables. In 2024, more than half (52 per cent) of investing businesses implemented such projects – a jump of 17 percentage points on the previous year.

This was followed by investments aimed at improving energy efficiency in existing buildings, for example with thermal insulation or heat pumps. Measures were implemented in this area by 35 per cent of investing businesses, a noticeable increase of 11 percentage points on the previous year. The third most common climate investment measure was green mobility, including the purchase of electric vehicles or the installation of charging infrastructure. Projects of this type were implemented by 32 per cent of businesses – after nearly 50 per cent the year before.

“If we want to achieve the climate objectives, we need to step up our investment significantly. Our survey shows that businesses need a reliable framework for their climate action investments. They also see lengthy planning and approval processes as a major impediment to their activities. In order to encourage more climate investment in the business sector, policymakers should directly address these impediments,”

said Dr Dirk Schumacher.

Under the KfW Climate Barometer, German businesses were asked which policy measures aimed at supporting climate investment they would like to see. Reducing electricity prices topped the list and was mentioned by 70 per cent of businesses, given its great importance for making the electrification of heating and mobility economically attractive. Simplifying planning and approval processes was mentioned by 67 per cent of respondents, while 65 per cent would like to see tax incentives for climate investment, and 63 per cent an expansion of energy infrastructure such as electricity grids.

The Climate Barometer by KfW Research can be found at www.kfw.de/klimabarometer

^{The dataset:}

^{The business survey for the KfW Climate Barometer was conducted by GfK GmbH on behalf of KfW Group. A total of 13,272 small and medium-sized enterprises and 193 large enterprises took part in the survey, which was conducted between 10 February and 20 June 2025.}

^{KfW supports SMEs with a number of promotional programmes on behalf of the Federal Government. More information is available at We are strengthening the SME sector (German page).}