Climate Protection Act Case

Abstract

On March 24, 2001, the German Federal Constitutional Court has rendered its long-awaited decision on the constitutionality of the German Climate Protection Act. In its landmark decision, the Court declared the Act to be unconstitutional for the reason that it violates fundamental rights in their intertemporal dimension. With this innovative doctrinal construction, the Court has formulated that the less stringent climate change mitigation measures are in the present, the more freedom will need to be curtailed in the future. This note gives an overview of the most important features of this decision and contextualizes its importance for debates in international law. In particular, the note discusses how the Court has developed a constitutional obligation of international cooperation in the field of climate change governance, a finding which has potential repercussions also for other fields of international cooperation.

Keywords: Climate change, Paris Agreement, German constitutional law, foreign relations law, sustainable development, protection of fundamental rights, intergenerational equity

JEL Classification: K33