Lawsuit announced to correct misguided climate policy –
Protect the Planet supports class action lawsuit
In 2021, it was called a ‘historic judgement’ – also in the reactions of politicians – but unfortunately it didn’t help: ‘After the last coalition in Germany, the current traffic light coalition is now also facing the realisation before the Constitutional Court that the increasingly serious consequences of climate change and the associated impairment of fundamental rights cannot be imposed on future generations alone. Unfortunately, politicians seem to need a massive correction through the courts,’ explains Dorothea Sick-Thies on the new climate action before the Federal Constitutional Court, which is supported by Protect the Planet and sponsored by the Sick Environmental Foundation.
Five German environmental organisations will jointly file three new constitutional complaints in a major class action against current climate policy and the gutting of the Climate Protection Act (German: Klimaschutzgesetz, KSG) if Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier signs the amendment to the Climate Protection Act.
Some of the plaintiffs were already involved in the 2021 lawsuit and, in a landmark judgement, succeeded in having the Federal Constitutional Court grant climate protection constitutional status.
Dr Roda Verheyen, lawyer for the complaint on behalf of the associations Germanwatch and Greenpeace, explained at the Federal Press Conference on the constitutional complaint 2.0: ‘The task for the future has not been solved, the German budget will be used up by 2037 at the latest with the current policy. The overall reduction path is at risk. We are filing these complaints to defend fundamental rights, as the amendment to the Federal Climate Protection Act is unconstitutional.’
‘All people with children and a sense of responsibility for future generations can and should join this action – the freedoms of tomorrow must not be limited by today’s emissions mania. All sectors – including the transport sector – must make their contribution, also in order to keep Germany as a business location fit for the future,’ urges entrepreneur Dorothea Sick-Thies from Protect the Planet to join in.
‘We will support this legal action project to the best of our ability. It is regrettable that we have to go to court first for human rights that are taken for granted. We hope that the parties will start a catch-up process in order to fulfil their responsibility with regard to climate protection and actually drive it forward effectively,’ adds Markus Raschke, CEO of Protect the Planet.
Protect the Planet (founded in 2015) initiated the first climate action before the European Court of Justice People’s Climate Case in 2018, which also resulted in the constitutional complaint with the historic climate protection judgement of 2021.
Links and forms for free participation can be found here. Donations are welcome.
