Germany’s coalition at odds over climate legislation
• SPD ministers seek constitutional backing for nature conservation
• Merz’s party warns of costs, hurdles over proposed funding
• Chancellor accused of lacking a plan on heat, water shortages
BERLIN: As much of Europe swelters under a heat wave, a group of German ministers wants to enshrine climate protection in the constitution, a plan that sparked pushback from within the government on Monday.
The debate is heating up as climate scientists say global warming is intensifying droughts and wildfires, dropping river levels and threatening harvests in Europe’s biggest economy.
Ministers from the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), junior coalition partners to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives, said Berlin must enshrine the need for “climate adaptation and nature conservation” in the German constitution, known as the Basic Law.
They urged changes to urban planning legislation and building codes and new labour laws to address working in high temperatures.
With the Rhine River running low and forest fires flaring, Environmental Minister Carsten Schneider said the climate crisis is now a “tangible reality”, but current law limits what his ministry can do in response.
Key figures in Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc were lukewarm on the idea, warning of potential costs. Klaus Mack, deputy chairman of the CDU’s parliamentary group, raised concerns about fiscal implications and administrative hurdles.
The CDU’s climate policy spokesman, Mark Helfrich, told Politico they “are not convinced” by the SPD idea of new joint funding for national, regional and local climate measures.
Meanwhile, environmental groups largely voiced support for the SPD proposal and criticised Merz for not laying out a plan of his own about how to address drought, heat and water shortages.
“This summer of extremes shows that Germany is ill-prepared for the heat waves striking us with increasing frequency due to the escalating climate crisis,” Barbara Metz, head of Environmental Action Germany, told the RND media group.
The opposition Greens in principle also back the idea, but party chief Felix Banaszak charged that the SPD had previously blocked similar proposals and warned voters: “Don’t fall for these con artists.”
Climate action “is not rocket science”, he added, demanding more renewable energy, grid and storage capacity to make Germany “independent of fossil fuel imports”.
Merz has faced accusations of backsliding on Germany’s robust climate commitments, as he has sought to bolster the economy by cutting red tape and bringing down energy costs.
An expert commission in May forecast that Germany would miss its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions targets, which are anchored in law.
Environmental Action Germany, which successfully sued the previous administration over an inadequate climate plan, has also brought a lawsuit against the current government’s climate action programme.
The SPD plan would require support from Merz’s conservatives, as amending the Basic Law requires a two-thirds majority in parliament. The far-left Die Linke party called it “empty promises”, while the far-right AfD rejected it.
Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2026
