German greenhouse gas emissions up 1.6 pct y/y in 2012-govt

BERLIN Feb 25 (Reuters) - German greenhouse gas emissions rose 1.6 percent on the year in 2012 to 931 million tonnes due to more coal burning for power generation and gas use in heating, Germany's Federal Environment Agency (UBA) said on Monday.

Emissions of carbon dioxide alone rose 2.0 percent, the UBA said, although expansion of renewable kept gains in check.

The UBA, part of the environment ministry, said Germany had bettered its Kyoto protocol target for 2008 to 2012 by 192 million tonnes.

UBA President Jochen Flasbarth said the increase in coal burning was worrying and he called for more sustainable carbon trading.

"The European Commission's backloading plan for 900 million CO2 certificates would be a first step for this. Ultimately, the certificates should be permanently rather than temporarily withdrawn from the market. This would be best achieved with an increase in European Union climate protection goals," he said. (Reporting by Alexandra Hudson, editing by Gareth Jones)