Judges Criticize Climate Law | DiePresse.com

According to the highest justices, Germany’s climate protection law is partly unconstitutional. The government needs improvement.

Karlsruhe. Germany’s climate protection law violates the constitution in some aspects. The Constitutional Court criticized the fact that CO₂Savings and thus burdens will increase significantly from 2031 onwards. This especially affects young people now. Therefore, the legislature should have taken the necessary precautions to protect the guaranteed freedom mainly in order to alleviate these great burdens. The statutory savings regulations from 2031 onwards weren’t enough.

Complaints against the law were filed about a year and a half ago. Above all, young people who are supported by environmental organizations Greenpeace, BUND, Deutsche Umwelthilfe and Germanwatch complained. The judges decided that the law served to protect the people. “The complainants, some of whom are still young, are being subjected to violation of their freedom-related rights through the impugned judgments.” The legislature must now improve the law by the end of 2022. The highest justices declared that “the regulations irreversibly postpone the burden of high emissions cuts to periods beyond 2030”. Limiting the increase in global average temperature to less than two degrees and, if possible, to 1.5 degrees, as planned, would only be possible through the adoption of increasingly urgent and short-term measures. “In practical terms, it is likely that any freedom will be affected by these future emission reduction commitments, because nearly all areas of human life remain associated with greenhouse gas emissions and are therefore threatened by severe restrictions after 2030.”

Altmaier: “Epochal for Climate Protection”

The Climate Protection Act states that by 2030 it will be carbon dioxide₂Emissions must be reduced by at least 55 percent compared to 1990. In addition, it sets specific upper limits for greenhouse gases for various sectors such as energy, transportation, buildings and agriculture. If this is not achieved in odd years, then there is a commitment to make improvements. The bottom line is that by 2050 there will be practically no carbon dioxide₂ More to be emitted. The German Minister of Economic Affairs, Peter Altmaier, declared that the ruling “made an era for climate protection and youth rights”. The plaintiff’s attorneys spoke about a significant event. (APA / Reuters / DPA)

(“Die Presse”, print edition, April 30, 2021)