Environmental group sues German gov’t over unfulfilled climate promises

BERLIN (AA) - A leading environmental group has sued the German government, accusing it of not taking effective measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in transport and building sectors.

“We can no longer stand by and watch as parts of the federal government ignore their own climate protection goals, and refuse effective measures for transport and buildings,” Olaf Bandt, director of the BUND association, said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said the association has opened a lawsuit against the federal government at the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg, as it is not complying with the requirements of the Climate Protection Act.

“A political decision is needed now to create effective measures for climate protection. If Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government is not politically able or willing to do so, it must be legally obliged to do so,” Bandt stressed.

Germany’s Climate Protection Act obliges the government to put forward emergency programs for sectors that exceed the specified annual emission levels. Despite the excessive emissions in the transport and building sectors in the past couple of years, the government has failed to take the necessary decisions, according to the association.

In the transport sector, the emission levels permitted for 2021 were exceeded by 3.1 million tons of CO2 and in the building sector by 2.5 million tons.

The Climate Protection Act has set out strict targets and it wants to make Germany climate-neutral by 2045. The government aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% (compared with 1990 levels) as early as 2030.