In Germany, the Constitutional Court inflicted a serious setback in the climate on Angela Merkel

Five months before the German legislative elections on September 26, it’s a legal warning shot that contains everything like a political mini-bomb. In a ruling published on Thursday, April 29, the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe challenged the 2019 law on climate protection, arguing that it does not contain sufficient requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions after 2030, and that doing so leads to “Restrict my work and possibly restrict any form of freedom” For the next generations.

“We won. It’s colossal. Climate protection is not a luxury. It is a fundamental right.”Luisa Neubauer, the young leader of the German chapter of the Friday for the Future movement, one of the associations that has appealed to the Karlsruhe court about this provision which would impose, by 2030, a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the 1990 level.

The rulings are disputed [de la loi de 2019] It violates the applicants’ freedoms, and some of them are still young. They irreversibly postpone significant costs in terms of reducing emissions to the post-2030 period., Write the constitutional justices in their ruling, which also contains an ultimatum: “By December 31, 2022, the legislator should regulate the adjustment of emission reduction targets more precisely for the period beyond 2030.”

Passing the weapon inside the coalition

If they weren’t out of the appeals to the Karlsruhe court, the Greens understood the political gains they could hope to reap from this decision, on the eve of the election campaign they are addressing in a position of strength. Welcome prof ‘Historic decision’The chancellor’s nominee, Analina Burbock, immediately responded with the claim ‘Concrete measures here and now’.

From 23% to 28% in recent opinion polls, giving them an opportunity to participate in or even lead the next government, environmentalists want to organize a debate on this issue next week in the Bundestag, believing that “The stalemate, wait-and-see policy of the CDU-CSU and the Social Democratic Party threatens the freedoms of future generations.”

As part of Angela Merkel’s “grand coalition”, the Karlsruhe government led, Thursday, to a stunning sweep, on Twitter, between Conservative Economy Minister Peter Altmire (CDU) and his colleague in charge of financial affairs, Social Democrat Olaf Schultz (Social Democratic Party). While the first had just received Prof. ‘A very important decision’ At the same time to Youth rights And to get ” Safety “ That he grants him to invest in the future, and the second – who is also the SPD’s candidate for chancellery – hurried to answer: “My dear colleague, as I remember, it was you and your party that stood in the way [aux mesures] Today demanded by the Constitutional Court. But we can fix that quickly. Are you in the game? “

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