Climate alarmism under attack in Germany…

Germany’s No. 1 party – conservative AfD Party – calls for tangible consequences for politics, the media, and the judiciary after extreme emission scenario “RCP 8.5 is no longer scientifically serious and will no longer be used.

The Germany-based European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE) reports that on May 20, 2026, the AfD requested a topical debate (Aktuelle Stunde) in the Bundestag.

The background for the debate was the decision within the scientific IPCC/CMIP7 framework to no longer use the extreme emission scenario “RCP 8.5” (or SSP5-8.5) as a plausible worst-case scenario.

AfD climate spokesperson Karsten Hilse described the scenario as an implausible “horror scenario” and “the greatest fraud in human history”, arguing that it had been used for years to generate panic and justify expensive climate measures, and had even influenced the Federal Constitutional Court’s draconian 2021 climate ruling.

The other political parties (Union, SPD, Greens, Left) rejected the criticism. They argued that the extreme scenario had become unrealistic precisely because of the success of climate protection and renewable energies! Therefore, the AfD Party (the true conservatives) in Germany there is no need to change policy, especially since other scenarios with significant warming (up to approximately 3–3.5 °C) remain in place.

EIKE, however, vehemently contradicts the reasoning of the mainstream parties. Citing data from the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy 2025, EIKE argues that the global contribution of wind (1.5%) and solar (1.3%) to the primary energy demand in 2024 totaled just around 2.8%.

CO2 emissions have not slowed globally

EIKE views the success of renewables as a sham argument, claiming instead that deindustrialization is the true cause of altered emission trends.

Media coverage following the debate was very restrained, limited, and largely following standard patterns of political polarization. The topic did not trigger a major wave of media attention.