The “climate chancellor” ends up in the bin: With their protest, environmentalists want to make their criticism of the federal government’s climate policy clear. Legal questions dominate the discussion in court.
To ensure that climate goals are achieved, environmental organizations want to legally oblige the federal government to take effective measures. The Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court (OVG) has been examining corresponding lawsuits from Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) and the German Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) since Thursday. The court plans to announce its verdict on November 30th.
In the three interconnected proceedings, the plaintiffs are demanding immediate programs that ensure compliance with the annual emission levels set in the Climate Protection Act in the building and transport sectors for the years up to 2030. In their view, the measures planned so far are not sufficient to comply with the maximum amounts of climate-damaging greenhouse gases in the individual areas.
Demand: Government should adhere to its own laws
“The federal government is deliberately disregarding climate targets,” said DUH federal managing director Jürgen Resch before the oral hearing. The aim of the lawsuit is to force them to comply with their own laws and implement effective CO2 saving measures. “Everything that is reasonable must be tackled,” said Resch.
Before the oral hearing of the responsible 11th Senate, activists protested in front of the court wearing masks of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Federal Construction Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD). They threw a sign with the inscription “Climate Chancellor” into a bin.
Formal legal questions dominated the discussion in court. One of the focal points was the question of whether the environmental organizations were even entitled to sue. DUH Federal Managing Director Resch appeared confident after the four-hour negotiation and spoke of the federal government representatives’ unconvincing arguments.
The ministries whose area is affected are responsible for emergency programs. The measures will then be decided by the federal government. The current cases are about climate targets in the transport and building sectors. According to Resch, Umwelthilfe has filed a total of five lawsuits against the federal government. The OVG wants to negotiate further proceedings in February 2024.
The climate protection law was tightened in June 2021. The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe had previously obliged the legislature to regulate the reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions in more detail for the period after 2030. Germany should then become greenhouse gas neutral by 2045, and emissions should fall by at least 65 percent by 2030.
Source: Stern
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