complaint

Greenpeace e.V. and Germanwatch e.V. v. Germany (Failure to adopt effective climate measures in transport sector) - complaint

Litigation

Sabin

Sabin Litigation

Filing Year For Action

The constitutional complaint alleges a continuing legislative failure to adopt effective climate measures in Germany’s transport sector. Building on the Federal Constitutional Court’s 2021 Neubauer decision and the ECtHR’s 2024 ruling affirming strong climate duties, the complainant argues that government inaction violates fundamental rights.

Five low-income individuals dependent on private mobility—four in rural areas with poor transit access and one with a disability—file the complaint with Greenpeace and Germanwatch. They argue that further delays will force drastic future restrictions such as driving bans and prohibitive CO₂ prices, disproportionately harming those unable to shift to public transport or electric vehicles.

The complaint highlights years of missed transport-sector targets and the minister’s failure to produce lawful “immediate action” programs. Instead of strengthening compliance, the 2024 amendment to the Climate Protection Act eliminated binding sector targets and sector-specific remedies, easing pressure on transport—an issue also raised in a separate mass complaint.

Projections by the Environment Agency and the Council of Experts show that any apparent progress relies on other sectors compensating for large transport deficits. By 2040, Germany is projected to overshoot its pathway, with millions of combustion cars still on the road and no feasible plan for climate-neutral operation. Germany is also likely to miss EU Effort Sharing targets, while the 2027 ETS 2 may cause steep CO₂ price spikes and major social impacts.

The complainants argue that inaction consumes the remaining Paris-compatible CO₂ budget and pre-determines severe future restrictions on freedom. Scenario analysis shows that delay until 2030 would require unrealistically rapid emissions cuts. They also allege intertemporal and social inequality, as burdens fall hardest on those least able to pay. Only immediate, concrete measures in transport (or, subsidiarily, across sectors) can protect their constitutional and human rights; improving the legal framework alone is insufficient.