1/ I've finally had the chance to go through the April 29 #climatechange decision from @bvferg.

Once again we see children and young people (and their lawyers) pushing the courts to advance human rights enjoyment - both for CYP in the here and now and future generations https://twitter.com/BVerfG/status/1387670795376283652

2/ very significant delineation of state duties: (a) the protection of life & physical integrity under Art. 2(2) of the Basic Law encompasses protection against impairments caused by environmental pollution, regardless of who or what circumstances are the source of the impairment

3/ (b) The state’s duty of protection arising from Art. 2(2) BL also encompasses the duty to protect life and health against the risks posed by climate change. It can furthermore give rise to an objective duty to protect future generations.
( #intergenerationaljustice!)

4/ (c) As #climatechange can moreover result in damage being caused to property (eg due to rising sea levels or droughts), the fundamental right to property under Art. 14(1) BL also imposes a duty of protection on the state w/ regard to the property risks caused by climate change

5/ the Ct held that given the leeway afforded to the legislator in fulfilling the Art 2(2) and Art 14(1) duties of protection, no violation of these duties could be ascertained

6/ A very exciting part of the j'ment is the Ct's finding that the emission amounts allowed til 2030 under the Climate Change Act substantially narrow the remaining options for reducing emissions after 2030,thereby jeopardising practically every type of freedom protected by BL

7/ The Ct found the challenged provisions have an advance interference-like effect ('eingriffsähnliche Vorwirkung') on BL freedoms. Provisions that allow for CO2 emissions in the present time constitute an irreversible legal threat to future freedom.

8/ There is a huge amount more to this judgment - for those interested in child rights, climate justice, extra-territorial obligations, proportionality & much more! It's a key example of the crucial role #childrights #strategiclitigation is playing in challenging #climate
change

The press release is useful but the full decision itself strongly rewards careful reading https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Entscheidungen/DE/2021/03/rs20210324_1bvr265618.html