Before Bundesumweltminister Carsten Schneider (SPD) presents the federal government’s climate‑protection programme this Wednesday, the climate‑activist group Fridays for Future (FFF) does not expect any progress in climate policy.
“At every turn, Merz and the wealthy are tearing down climate‑protection projects” Linda Kastrup, FFF spokesperson, told the “Rheinische Post” in its Wednesday edition. “It should be the black‑red coalition’s turn to move fast, sharpen targets, invest more in climate protection and the energy transition, and finally put the foundation of the Climate Protection Act back in order. But the expectation that this will happen is essentially zero” she said.
“Kastrup added that the main problems in Germany have long been the transport and building sectors, yet instead of focusing on solutions, Merz perversely relies on internal combustion engines and oil and gas heating”.
In 2021 the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that Article 20(a) of the German Basic Law obliges the state to achieve climate neutrality, and that protecting future freedom requires the timely initiation of the transition to climate neutrality. In response to that ruling, the federal Climate Protection Act was tightened, imposing annual maximum emission limits for greenhouse gases in order to meet interim targets.
Now the federal climate‑protection programme requires the government to adopt a programme no later than twelve calendar months after the start of a new legislative period. A January 2024 decision of the Federal Administrative Court confirms that with the mandatory climate programmes all necessary measures must be agreed upon to meet the intermediate climate targets.
