Germany
Emma Johanna Kiehm, et al. v. State of Brandenburg
Jurisdiction: Federal Constitutional Court
Principle law(s): Federal Climate Protection Act and to change further regulations ("Bundesklimaschutzgesetz” or “KSG")
Side A: Emma Johanna Kiehm, Lina Freyert, Ameline Pelikan, Prof. Paul Brodowsky, Ruth Feinel-Brodowsky, and Wolfgang Georgsdorf (Individual)
Side B: State of Brandenburg (Government)
Core objectives: The lack of a climate protection law in the State of Brandenburg.
Summary
On June 30, 2021, the youth plaintiffs Emma Johanna Kiehm, Lina Freyert, Ameline Pelikan and landowners Prof. Paul Brodowsky, Ruth Feindel-Brodowsky and Wolfgang Georgsdorf, supported by environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH; Environmental Action Germany), brought a constitutional claim against the state of Brandenburg for its failure to adopt a climate protection law. The plaintiffs invoked the state’s duty to protect their fundamental rights – including personal freedoms and rights to property – to request that the state legally stipulate a GHG emissions reduction pathway towards achieving climate neutrality by 2045, to comply with the Federal Climate Protection Act and the overarching 1.5°C temperature target, as informed by the Paris Agreement. This case is part of a series of eleven separate constitutional complaints supported by DUH against ten federal states, following the Constitutional Court’s Neubauer decision in 2021.Case documents
Related laws and policies
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Federal Climate Protection Act and to change further regulations ("Bundesklimaschutzgesetz” or “KSG")
The purpose of this law is to ensure that national climate protection targets are met and European targets are met. It is also intended to support Germany's commitment at the UN climate summit in New York on September 23, 2019 to pursue greenhouse gas neutrality as a long-term goal by 2050. It wa...