Federal Government
Lawsuit: Traffic light must tighten up its climate protection program
Activists from German Environmental Aid protested in front of the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court. photo
© Paul Zinken/dpa
Deutsche Umwelthilfe successfully sued the federal government. The court comes to the conclusion: The legally stipulated measures are not sufficient to achieve the climate goals.
New defeat for the traffic light coalition in the struggle for climate protection: According to a ruling by the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court, the The federal government is sharpening its climate protection program.
The judges ruled that the measures listed so far were not sufficient to achieve the climate goals – and thus upheld two lawsuits filed by Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH).
The ruling could have far-reaching consequences for the traffic light government’s policies – if it has to be implemented. Because the federal government can still appeal. Then it would be the Federal Administrative Court’s turn again. When asked, the federal government initially did not want to comment on its next steps.
Resch: “Today is a good day for climate protection.”
In its current form, the program approved last October does not fully meet the legal requirements, said presiding judge Ariane Holle in her ruling. It is already foreseeable that from 2024 to 2030 many sectors will exceed the permitted amounts of greenhouse gases emitted – probably with the exception of agriculture.
DUH Federal Managing Director Jürgen Resch told the German Press Agency about the verdict: “Today is a good day for climate protection.” The federal government must now act quickly and improve the climate protection program in the short term. A key demand of his association is a speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour on motorways, 80 km/h on other roads outside towns and 30 km/h in urban areas.
Far-reaching consequences for the traffic light government’s policies?
Environmental Aid recently took legal action against the federal government’s climate policy and won a victory in November 2023. At that time, the OVG Berlin-Brandenburg ruled that the government must launch an immediate climate program in the transport and building sectors. The appeal against this is ongoing at the Federal Administrative Court.
As back then, the basis for the DUH lawsuits negotiated were the requirements of the Climate Protection Act for various sectors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the years 2024 to 2030. In addition, the law enshrines the goal of reducing these emissions in their entirety by at least 65 percent by 2030 compared to year 1990. In the previous year, around 46 percent reduction was achieved.
The climate protection program is considered a kind of overall plan by the federal government to achieve these goals. It lists numerous measures in the transport, energy, buildings, industry and agriculture sectors.