2024-07-15 17:50:52
Federal Transport Minister Wissing can breathe a sigh of relief. He no longer has to present an immediate program for more climate protection in his area. He has the Federal President to thank for that.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has signed the new climate protection law, which has been sharply criticized by environmental groups. It can therefore come into force after its publication. For Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP), the drafting of the new law comes at the last minute. If it had not happened, he would have had to present an immediate program for more climate protection in the transport sector on Monday.
According to the amendment, there will be a multi-year, cross-sectoral overall assessment of greenhouse gas emissions. These are to be reduced where the greatest savings potential lies. This eliminates the previous sectoral approach. Wissing in particular benefits from this because the transport sector has never achieved its climate targets to date.
The Expert Council for Climate Issues recently found in April that the transport sector had once again missed its annual target and emitted significantly more greenhouse gases than planned. The amendment does not change the climate targets themselves. Germany is still to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2045.
The law was passed by the Bundestag at the end of April and passed the Bundesrat in mid-May. The review of the law for its constitutionality by the Office of the Federal President took an unusually long time.
The Office of the Federal President announced on Monday that the focus of the review was compatibility with the requirements set out by the Federal Constitutional Court in its climate protection decision of March 2021. “In his review, the Federal President came to the conclusion that there is no evident unconstitutionality,” it said in a statement.
The German Environmental Aid (DUH) had called on Steinmeier to refuse to sign the law. The association said it had sent an 18-page letter to the Federal President in which it documented what it considered to be constitutional violations in the law.