Federal Constitutional Court
CDU politician moves to Karlsruhe against climate protection reform
Too fast a legislative process and a weakening of climate protection? The CDU member of the Bundestag Thomas Heilmann is taking the matter to the Federal Constitutional Court. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
The CDU MP Heilmann has already legally stopped a major legislative proposal from the traffic light government. Now he’s bringing the Constitutional Court back in – it’s about climate protection.
CDU member of the Bundestag Thomas Heilmann is opposing the traffic light reform of the Climate Protection Act Federal Constitutional Court. Heilmann applied for an interim order to stop the law in Karlsruhe, as his office confirmed to the German Press Agency in Berlin.
Heilmann justifies the step, similar to his successful case against the heating law, with what he sees as the legislative process being too quick and also with a feared weakening of climate protection. He wants to prevent the adoption of the reform of the climate protection law in the Bundestag planned for this Friday.
The planned reform
The reform of the Climate Protection Act provides for fundamental changes. The following applies so far: If individual sectors such as transport or buildings fail to meet legal requirements for CO2 emissions, the responsible ministries must submit emergency programs in the following year. With the reform, compliance with the climate targets should no longer be checked retroactively by sector, but rather with a view to the future, over a period of several years and across sectors. If it becomes apparent in two consecutive years that the federal government is not on track to meet its climate target for 2030, it will have to make adjustments.
By 2030, Germany must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65 percent compared to 1990. Greenhouse gases are expected to fall by 88 percent by 2040 and greenhouse gas neutrality should be achieved by 2045 – so no more greenhouse gases will be emitted or sequestered again.
The concerns of environmental associations
From Heilmann’s point of view, far-reaching changes are planned, which is why the MPs need time to examine them. Environmental groups had criticized the reform as watering down the current rules. German Environmental Aid (DUH) criticizes that after the reform, additional climate protection efforts will only be required from 2030 onwards to achieve the climate goals of later years – which de facto postpones climate protection into the future. Data for the period 2031 to 2040 should only be published from 2029 onwards – which is a lot late for adjustments. In addition, individual ministries would be made significantly less responsible for achieving the goals in their respective areas of responsibility. Instead, in the future, Germany’s total CO2 emissions should count more and the federal government as a whole should be responsible for them.
The First Parliamentary Managing Director of the Greens, Irene Mihalic, had previously rejected the Union faction’s concerns. “Well, we’re not speeding anything up, it’s a completely normal procedure, and that’s why we have no problem doing it that way,” she said before Heilmann’s application in Karlsruhe in response to criticism from the opposition. The latest changes to the draft law have been before MPs for days. “Everyone has had the opportunity to deal with this and therefore we do not see why the legislative process cannot be carried out as planned.”
Blueprint for proceedings against the heating law
Last summer, the Federal Constitutional Court stopped the adoption of the Heating Act (Building Energy Act), for which Heilmann also criticized the tight schedule. The law was then passed by the Bundestag in September.