The German judiciary on Thursday condemned Olaf Scholz’s government for its inadequate action on climate change, an embarrassing verdict for the chancellor as she prepares to attend COP 28.
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The Berlin-Brandenburg Administrative Court has forced it to take “immediate measures” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in transport and buildings, which account for 20% and 30% of the CO2 released in Germany, respectively.
In these two areas, “the federal government is obliged to decide on the implementation of an emergency program,” said the judges.
This first instance judgment was issued at the request of the German environmental associations DUH and BUND. However, it is not immediately applicable as the government can appeal.
NGOs that accused Olaf Scholz’s government of inaction in the fight against global warming welcomed this decision.
“The court has made it clear that the government must respect its own climate goals,” said BUND spokeswoman Antje von Broock.
Emergency programs
Specifically, the associations were of the opinion that the government had not set up the necessary immediate programs in recent years to reduce emissions in buildings and transport.
The German climate protection law sets a maximum permissible CO2 emissions for each sector.
If these maximum limits are exceeded, the ministries concerned must submit an emergency program to reduce quantities within three months.
According to official information, for example, in the transport sector the permissible emission values for 2021 were exceeded by 3.1 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and in the construction industry by 2.5 million tonnes.
However, the associations were of the opinion that the ministries’ measures were “not enough”.
In transport in particular, it was “only possible to close 5% of the gap” between the actual emissions and the legally permissible maximum, Jürgen Resch, environmental activist for the DUH, told AFP.
The associations are therefore calling for the implementation of concrete measures, such as a speed limit on motorways in a country that does not yet have one, or the abolition of “climate-damaging” subsidies.
With the new climate law presented in June, which contains a variety of measures on heat pumps and wind turbines, including the expansion of the hydrogen network, the government estimates that it will have closed the gap by “80%” by 2030.
However, the court considered that an “emergency program” must contain “effective short-term measures” in “the sector concerned” and not a “multi-sectoral and multi-annual” program like the law in question.
denial
Following the ruling, the Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that it had “taken note” of the court’s arguments and would “analyze them in detail” before deciding “on how to proceed with the proceedings”.
But this ruling is a serious disavowal for Olaf Scholz’s government, while the Chancellor has to go to COP28 in Dubai on Friday.
“Especially in the week in which the climate conference begins in Dubai, this is a fatal signal,” complained Andreas Jung, spokesman for the opposition CDU on climate issues.
Especially since the German coalition is already struggling with a decision by the Constitutional Court that canceled 60 billion euros in investments, particularly for the climate, which further limits its scope for action.
Germany’s highest body had already decided in favor of the environmental associations in 2021 and judged the 2019 Climate Protection Act to be inadequate.
This ruling forced the then government of conservative Angela Merkel to pass a more ambitious climate law.
Germany now plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030 compared to 1990, up from 55% previously, then by 88% by 2040, with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality in 2045, five years earlier than expected. Olaf Scholz’s coalition added a demand to reach 80% renewable electricity by 2030.