Before the federal government’s climate‑protection programme was presented by Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) on Wednesday, the climate‑action group Fridays for Future (FFF) saw no sign of real progress.
Linda Kastrup, FFF’s spokesperson, told the “Rheinische Post” that “at all corners and edges, Christian Merk and Reiche are tearing down climate‑protection projects”. She added that the governing coalition should now get underway, sharpen its targets, invest more in climate protection and the energy transition, and finally get the climate‑law framework back on track. Yet, she says, “expectations that this will happen are practically zero”.
Kastrup noted that Germany’s main problems lie in the transport and building sectors, yet Merk seems to rely on internal‑combustion engines and oil‑ and gas‑based heating instead of pursuing better solutions.
In 2021 the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that Article 20a of the Basic Law obliges the state to achieve climate neutrality and that protecting future freedom requires launching the transition to climate neutrality in a timely manner. In response a stricter federal climate‑protection law was enacted, imposing annual maximum emission limits for greenhouse gases to meet interim targets.
The federal climate‑protection program now requires the government to adopt a climate‑protection programme within twelve calendar months of the start of a legislative period. A January ruling from the Federal Administrative Court made it clear that these mandatory programmes must agree on all necessary measures to meet the intermediate climate goals.