BERLIN, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The German government will discuss a new draft of its climate protection act next week after the country's Constitutional Court ruled that the current law was insufficient, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said at a press conference here on Friday.
The court set an end-2022 deadline, and the German government will "now do everything in its power" to propose an updated piece of legislation before the next federal election in September in order to implement the ruling's key demands, Seibert said.
The new law "will require fundamental changes in the way we work, the way we do business and the way we live," Seibert said, adding that the ruling supported the "path we have defined in the climate protection program, namely the major projects of phasing out coal, the energy turnaround, CO2 pricing and the promotion of electric mobility."
The ruling confirmed the approach of the existing law to "enshrine the goal of the Paris Agreement also in German law and for German policy," according to Seibert. The goal remained to keep the rise in global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
According to the court, the German government had not violated its constitutional duty to protect citizens from climate change. However, the country's climate protection act failed to sufficiently specify how greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced after 2031.
The legal challenge was supported by several environmental organizations, including Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND), Fridays for Future and Greenpeace. The court found that the existing regulations "violate the freedoms of the complainants, some of whom are still very young."
According to Seibert, the ruling was a "landmark judgment" and a "great success for the young people who sued, but also for the future generations." Enditem
