Bärbel Höhn introduced a draft Climate Protection Act ("Klimaschutzgesetz") into the German Bundestag in 2013. We have translated it into English to contribute to the global discourse on national climate laws.
This act would constitute the first legally binding climate protection targets in Germany. The German Federal Government would be required to adopt sectoral climate targets and detailed climate protection programmes on the basis of the Act. The implementation of the programmes and the achievement of the climate protection targets would be reviewed regularly by the German Bundestag and an independent Climate Protection Commission. A minimum national CO2 price would prevent extreme fluctuations in the price of CO2. In addition to this, the Climate Protection Act contains standards for exemplary action on climate protection within the federal administration.