German federal state sued for failing to meet climate targets

A plane flies over a highway near Frankfurt Airport on September 20, 2019. The German state is notably accused of not having done enough to make progress in the field of climate transport.

AP - Michael Probst

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The Bund climate defense association filed a new appeal against the federal government on Tuesday, January 24, for non-compliance with its climate objectives.

Berlin is particularly accused of inactivity in the field of transport.

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With our correspondent in Berlin,

Again, in 2022 Germany did not meet the climate targets that the country set itself in 2021 to achieve carbon neutrality in 2045. The overruns, calculated by ministry, were particularly high in transport and in the building.

However, denounces the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (Bund), the ministries concerned have remained idly by instead of setting up an emergency program within three months.

These emergency programs are at the heart of the Climate Protection Act.

If the authorized emissions are exceeded in a sector, the ministries concerned must submit a program within three months to quickly reduce emissions.

However, this limit, set at a maximum of 756 million tonnes of CO2, was exceeded in 2022, according to calculations by the group of experts Agora Energiewende.

In terms of transport, a quick measure could for example be the speed limit of 130 km/h on the motorways, but the liberal minister for the sector categorically rejects such a measure, demanded by the Greens.

The subject will feature prominently on the menu of an important coalition meeting on Thursday.

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