“This law does not meet the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement. The central purpose of the new EU climate law was, after all, to cast the necessary emissions targets and other important requirements for EU member states in this decade, which is so important for the climate, into a binding law. The result that has now been adopted, however, does not come close to the minimum requirements. That is why I voted against this law: We need more ambitious action!”

The central point of criticism is the emission reduction target of 55%, which is to be achieved by including CO2 sinks. “This is nothing more than a calculation trick that future generations will have to pay for. The CO2 sinks must not be included in the calculation of the emissions target, as the advancing climate damage continues to reduce these important sinks such as forests or peatlands. If we take the sinks out of the calculation, we are suddenly only at 52.8%. That is far too little.”

Climate researchers repeatedly issue urgent warnings about heat waves, drought, flooding, forest fires, water scarcity and loss of biodiversity and call for consistent and ambitious emission reductions. “It is high time that the EU Commission and EU Member State governments start listening to the science,” Manuela Ripa underlines. “It is a shame that bodies such as the Federal Constitutional Court have to remind our leading politicians that they have a responsibility for future generations. A responsibility that includes, in particular, the prevention of climate change and which is obviously – and regrettably – still not taken seriously enough.”