Environmental aid files constitutional complaint against controversial climate protection law
With the regulation passed by the Traffic Light Coalition, enforceable sector targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be abolished. This means the requirement to submit immediate programs for specific sectors, such as transportation, when emissions targets are exceeded, will no longer apply. However, the target settings themselves remain unchanged. The DUH points out that, according to the new law, the government will not have to adopt any additional relevant climate protection measures by 2030.
"The Ampel Government is abandoning climate protection with this legislative change," explained Resch. "We will not accept this clear constitutional breach and are filing another lawsuit at the Federal Constitutional Court," he added, referring to the 200-page complaint of his association. Resch particularly criticized the significant exceeding of emissions targets in the transportation sector, where "fossil energy and automobile companies" were blocking effective climate policy.
Co-Managing Director of the Federation of German Industries Barbara Metz also pointed to failures in the building sector. "Abolishing the Climate Protection Act will only perpetuate and worsen this situation," she justified the DUH lawsuit. This would limit the freedom of future generations. Metz demanded "a renovation offensive for public buildings, especially kindergartens and schools, the high-running of heat pumps, and flexibility in the refurbishment process."
Several lawsuits have already been filed against the climate policy of the Federal Government and its failures, which primarily rely on the previously valid Climate Protection Act. In another new lawsuit, the DUH also targets the untimely submission of the climate protection report by the government, making an essential control instrument unavailable.
The environmental organization BUND announced another constitutional lawsuit against the weakening of the Climate Protection Act. "With his signature, the Federal President in a way legitimizes the constitutional violation of the Federal Government in climate protection," explained BUND chairman Olaf Bandt. This will not be accepted by his association.
Sharp criticism of the new regulation came from Fridays for Future as well.
The decision of the Federal Constitutional Court in 2021 regarding a DUH lawsuit is also relevant to this matter, in which the highest German court recognized the right to climate protection as a constitutional right.
- In response to the changes in the Climate Protection Law, German Environmental Aid e.V., led by Jürgen Resch, has filed a constitutional complaint at the Federal Constitutional Court in Berlin.
- Barbara Metz, Co-Managing Director of the Federation of German Industries, supports the DUH lawsuit, arguing that abolishing the Climate Protection Act will worsen issues in the building sector and limit the freedom of future generations.
- The environmental organization BUND, led by Olaf Bandt, has also announced a constitutional lawsuit against the weakening of the Climate Protection Act, expressing concern over the Federal President's role in legitimizing the climate protection violations of the Federal Government.
- Fridays for Future, a youth-led climate activist group, has joined in the criticism of the new regulation, voicing their concerns about the impact on climate protection.
- The decision of the Federal Constitutional Court in 2021, which recognized the right to climate protection as a constitutional right, is also relevant to this ongoing dispute between environmental groups and the Federal Government.
