Germany revises emissions targets after constitutional court ruling

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The German government is to bring forward its targets for emissions reduction, following a ruling by the country's constitutional court that the current measures for climate protection are insufficient.

Earlier this week, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Environment Minister Svenja Schulze put forward proposed legislation aiming for a 65% cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2030, with an 88% reduction by 2040. The new target for total greenhouse gas neutrality is 2045.

At present, German emission levels are 40% lower than 1990 levels, which means the country must push for a further reduction of 25 percentage points by the end of this decade.

Read more: EU to enshrine net-zero goals

The new proposals put forward by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) ministers could be ratified by next week if it gathers the support, as expected, from senior coalition partners, Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

"We will strengthen our efforts for the year 2030 once more," said Merkel, adding that her government would "do everything to meet the target of climate neutrality by 2045."

Key ministers in both parties of Germany's coalition government welcomed the court ruling, despite it effectively criticising them for jeopardising the freedom of young people and future generations by delaying inevitable cuts to emissions.

The case was brought to court by young environmental activists with the backing of NGOs such as Greenpeace, Germany's Friends of the Earth and Fridays for Future.

No concrete measures have been laid out yet by the government over how it intends to meet the new targets. Commentators have suggested a revision to it carbon pricing scheme or the acceleration of its 2038 target for the phasing out of coal-fired power plants. 

Read more: German President Receives Nation's Last Piece Of Black Coal

"Matching numbers with actions will require the kind of major effort that this country has seldom seen,” wrote the Süddeutsche Zeitung daily newspaper.

"It could turn the federal republic into an international beacon and help to lessen the worst impacts of the climate crisis. But this coalition government would rather leave it to its successors to work out the details."

The court ruling and ensuing national debate comes just five months before the country holds its national elections on 26 September, with several polls putting the Greens in the lead. 

Politico's Poll of Polls, which combines polling data from several sources, placed the environmental party at 26%, with Merkel's CDU at 24% and its coalition partners the SDP at just 14%.

The Greens have been urging the outgoing government to double investments in measures for climate protection by €8 billion by 2025.

"We’ve got some ambitious targets, that’s a step in the right direction", said the Greens’ co-leader Robert Habeck. "But the key challenge is following up numbers with actions, and in that respect, the government isn’t delivering.".

Habeck, who lost out to his co-leader Annalena Baerbock in the race to become the Green party's candidate for the Chancellor, said his party would aim for a reduction in emissions of 70% by 2030. He also urged the incumbent government to expand renewable energy, cut back on subsidies for coal power and hike up the price on emissions in the construction and transport sectors.

Read more: UK set to raise emissions targets

Germany's move to bring forward emissions targets was welcomed on Thursday by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the 2021 Petersburg Climate Dialogue, a virtual climate conference hosted by Berlin.

Both Johnson and Merkel urged developed nations to increase financial assistance to aid developing countries in cutting emissions, but no firm pledges were made.

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