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The German government will increase its carbon emission targets after its top court in a landmark ruling.
- The government now has its sights set on slashing emissions by 65 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
- The reduction target is set to reach 88 per cent by 2040, with carbon neutrality set for 2045 – five years earlier than previously expected.
The German government will increase its carbon emission targets after the country’s top court, in a landmark ruling, declared the current climate protection law “insufficient”. The government now has its sights set on slashing emissions by 65 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. This is higher than the current 55 per cent target, according to the country’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz. The reduction target is set to reach 88 per cent by 2040, with carbon neutrality set for 2045 – five years earlier than previously expected.
Germany’s Constitutional Court last week ruled that the original national emissions targets flouted the rights of younger people because they omitted targets for reductions beyond 2030. The court ordered an improved plan to be put forward by December 2022.
“A reduction of 65 per cent is not enough,” said German Greenpeace campaigner Lisa Goeldner on Twitter, urging the government to target a 70 per cent cut in emissions by 2030 instead. “This is a big step for the coalition, but a small step for the climate,” said Lorenz Goesta Beutin of the radical Left party.