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Engels and Others v. Germany - decision

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Follow-up case to Germany's Federal Constitutional Court’s judgment regarding the Climate Protection Act, where the Court had ordered the legislator to amend the act to comply with the environmental targets. The applicants complain that the CP Act amendments are insufficient to meet the targets agreed upon at COP 21.

They alleged that the version of the Federal Climate Change Act in question did not satisfy the State’s positive obligations under Articles 2 and 8 of the Convention to put in place a legislative and administrative framework that effectively protected them from serious adverse effects on their lives and health arising from the harmful effects and risks caused by climate change. They further argued that the Federal Climate Change Act had an advance interference-like effect on the future exercise of their freedoms guaranteed by Article 8 of the Convention, as the irreversible depletion of the remaining CO2 budget would require radical restrictions on the exercise of those freedoms in the future.

In its Committee decision of 28 August 2025, the Court declared the application inadmissible. 

Regarding the complaint under Article 8 European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the Court held that even though the applicants referred to specific circumstances prevailing at their places of residence in Germany, the submissions were of a generalised nature. It was not apparent that they were exposed to the adverse effects of climate change, or were at risk of being exposed at any relevant point in the future, with a degree of intensity giving rise to a pressing need to ensure their individual protection. The applicants also failed to demonstrate that they had specific vulnerabilities or that exceptional circumstances existed in relation to the adverse effects of climate change to which they were at risk of being exposed to in the future.

As (a) a high intensity of exposure of the applicant to the adverse effects of climate change; and (b) a pressing need to ensure the applicant’s individual protection are two key criteria for victim status in the context of complaints concerning harm or risk of harm resulting from alleged failures by the State to combat climate change (as established in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others), the complainants did not attain victim status. Their complaint under Article 8 was therefore declared incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the ECHR.

As regards the complaint under Article 2 ECHR, the Court considered that the applicants’ submissions did not reveal that they were exposed to a “real and imminent” risk to their lives such as to trigger the applicability of Article 2 ECHR. This complaint was therefore declared incompatible ratione materiae with the provisions of the ECHR.

Engels and Others v. Germany

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.