‘Historic’ German ruling says climate goals not tough enough

(The Guardian, 29 Apr 2021) Judges order government to strengthen legislation before end of year to protect future generations.

Germany’s supreme constitutional court has ruled that the government’s climate protection measures are insufficient to protect future generations, after a complaint brought by environmentalist groups.

In a groundbreaking ruling, the judges of the Karlsruhe court, Germany’s highest, said the government now had until the end of next year to improve its Climate Protection Act, passed in 2019, and to ensure it met 2030 greenhouse gas reduction goals more immediately.

One of the complainants, Luisa Neubauer, an activist from Fridays For Future, welcomed the ruling, saying: “This is huge. Climate protection is not nice to have; climate protection is our basic right and that’s official now. This is a huge win for the climate movement, it changes a lot.”

The court said it was unconstitutional for emission reduction targets to have been postponed for so many years and stated that the law was not detailed enough about how reductions would happen.

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The Guardian, 29 Apr 2021: ‘Historic’ German ruling says climate goals not tough enough

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