Germany sets out ambitious climate goals

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved draft legislation for more ambitious CO2 reduction targets after a landmark ruling last month from the country’s top court, a government source said.

Under the new plans, which come as the environmentalist Greens top most polls before a federal election in September, the country will cut its carbon emissions by 65 percent by 2030 from 1990 levels.

That is up from a previous target of a 55 percent reduction.

Europe’s biggest economy will also aim for nearly net zero emissions by 2045, five years earlier than originally planned.

Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled in April that Merkel’s government had failed to set out how to cut carbon emissions beyond 2030 after plaintiffs, including North Sea islanders fearing rising sea levels.

The court said it was putting the future of younger generations at risk.

The draft legislation must go to parliament for approval as the next stage.

Under the plans, landlords will also shoulder half of the additional CO2 price burden related to heating costs.

Merkel’s coalition, comprising her conservatives and the Social Democrats, has moved fast to draw up the new plans in a bid to limit the damage from the court ruling.