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Setback for Climate Protection: Government Must Tighten Measures Following Court Ruling

(dpa) Once again, it's official: The traffic light coalition must step up its climate protection efforts, because measures, particularly in the transport sector, are inadequate. The German Environmental Aid celebrates yet another victory in court. The government can appeal.

Verdict insufficient: Activists of the German Environmental Aid (DUH) protest with masks depicting the leading members of the traffic light coalition government in front of the Higher Administrative Court Berlin. | Photo: dpa/Paul Zinken
Verdict insufficient: Activists of the German Environmental Aid (DUH) protest with masks depicting the leading members of the traffic light coalition government in front of the Higher Administrative Court Berlin. | Photo: dpa/Paul Zinken
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It is another legal slap in the face for the traffic light coalition: The Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg decided on Thursday that the federal government must sharpen its climate protection program. The measures listed so far are not sufficient to achieve the climate goals, the judges ruled, thus upholding two lawsuits by the German Environmental Aid (case numbers OVG 11 A 22/21 and OVG 11 A 31/22).

In its current form, the program adopted last October does not fully comply with legal requirements, said presiding judge Ariane Holle in her ruling. As early as now, it is foreseeable that many sectors will exceed the permissible amounts of greenhouse gases emitted from 2024 to 2030 - probably with the exception of agriculture.

"The federal government must ensure that all measures of the climate protection program are prognostically suitable to achieve the climate protection targets (...) and in doing so, adhere to the annual emission amounts," said Holle. This must be "methodically flawless" and well founded and must not rely on false prognoses. Because the climate targets defined in the Climate Protection Act are binding.

With the measures currently presented by the federal government, there will be a total gap of about 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents by 2030. This is the amount of greenhouse gases that Germany would need to save additionally by then in order to achieve the climate targets.

Far off: Germany is not on a climate course

The basis for the DUH lawsuits negotiated on Thursday were the requirements of the Climate Protection Act for various sectors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the years 2024 to 2030. The goal anchored in the Climate Protection Act is to reduce emissions in their entirety by at least 65 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. By 2023, Germany had achieved around 46 percent reduction.

The ruling could have far-reaching consequences for the policy of the traffic light government - provided it has to be implemented. Because the federal government can still go into revision. Then the Federal Administrative Court would be called upon again.

DUH sees a good day for climate protection

The German Environmental Aid celebrated its triumph in the evening. "This ruling is a deserved slap in the face for the pseudo-climate protection policy of the federal government," said DUH federal manager Jürgen Resch. The federal government must now act quickly and make adjustments in the short term. One of his association's key demands is a speed limit on highways. German Environmental Aid also believes that climate-damaging subsidies, such as tax benefits for company car owners, should be abolished.

The organization recently went to court against the federal government's climate policy before and won a victory in November 2023. At that time, the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg ruled that the government must launch an immediate climate program in the transport and building sectors. The revision in the Federal Administrative Court is ongoing. Both sectors have long been considered problem children. According to recent figures from the German Environment Agency, the targets for reducing greenhouse gases were again missed here in 2023. The transport sector, in particular, has so far failed significantly to make its contribution.

There are especially problems in transport

The contested climate protection program is considered a kind of overall plan by the federal government to achieve these targets. It lists numerous measures in the transport, energy, building, industry, and agriculture sectors. These include specific, partly already implemented measures such as the new version of the Building Energy Act, the 49-euro Germany ticket, or the CO2-dependent truck toll. There are also more general projects, such as strengthening public transport (ÖPNV) or accelerating the designation of areas for the expansion of renewable energies.

Too Vaguely Formulated

In the more than five-hour oral hearing, a lawyer for the DUH stated that much of the list was too vaguely formulated. It was not clear what specific impact this would have on the reduction of greenhouse gases. Representatives of the federal government countered that the climate protection program was more of a political program than a concrete plan. 

The current climate protection law stipulates annual targets for each sector to reduce harmful greenhouse gases. If these are missed in individual sectors in a given year, as has happened in the transport and building sectors, the respective responsible ministry must counteract with an immediate program. 

Controversial Reform Removes Wissing from Responsibility

However, this system is likely to change soon. At the end of April, the Bundestag passed a controversial reform of the climate protection law, primarily driven by the coalition partner FDP. Compliance with climate targets will no longer be monitored retrospectively by sector, but will be forward-looking, multi-year, and cross-sectoral. Climate advocates see this as a watering down of the targets - since individual sectors would no longer be held accountable as they are now. 

According to the new system, it is crucial that the overall climate goals are achieved. The new law has not yet come into force, and the Bundesrat will discuss it on Friday. The recent ruling could influence the outcome of these discussions. The Bundesrat could choose not to approve the law and instead call for a mediation committee. What is certain is that the ruling will already cause considerable unrest within the federal government.

Translated automatically from German.
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