Climate lawsuits are good for the climate and business!

Katja Grimme argues that the recent decision by Germany's constitutional court to rule in favour of climate change activists is part of a global trend, and it is good for business.  

Last week, Germany's constitutional court decided, in an unexpected landmark ruling, that the country's climate law runs in parts against the constitutional rights. It ordered the government to draw up clear emissions reduction targets for after 2030 (i.e. 2031-2050). The court argued that current climate targets violate the freedom of the younger generation by deferring high emission reduction burdens to periods after 2030. Limiting a rise in the global average temperature to well below two degrees, as planned in the Paris Agreement, and if possible to 1.5 degrees, would then only be feasible with increasingly urgent and short-term measures. It further states: "Virtually all freedom is potentially affected by these future emission reduction obligations because nearly all areas of human life are then still associated with the emission of greenhouse gases and are thus threatened with drastic restrictions after 2030." To preserve freedoms secured by fundamental rights, the legislature should have made provisions "to mitigate these heavy burdens".