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The leaders of Germany's Greens will resist a push by party activists this weekend to adopt more ambitious climate policies, balancing their ecologist message with care to ensure poorer voters are not left out of pocket after September's election.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet approved on Wednesday draft legislation for more ambitious CO2 reduction targets, including being carbon neutral by 2045, after a landmark court ruling last month forced the government to act.
First published on Thu 29 Apr 2021 09.41 EDT
Germanyâs supreme constitutional court has ruled that the governmentâs climate protection measures are insufficient to protect future generations, after a complaint brought by environmentalist groups.
In a groundbreaking ruling, the judges of the Karlsruhe court, Germanyâs highest, said the government now had until the end of next year to improve its Climate Protection Act, passed in 2019, and to ensure it met 2030 greenhouse gas reduction goals more immediately.
One of the complainants, Luisa Neubauer, an activist from Fridays for Future, welcomed the ruling, saying: âThis is huge. Climate protection is not nice to have; climate protection is our basic right and thatâs official now. This is a huge win for the climate movement, it changes a lot.â