Can 60 billion euros of corona aid simply become climate aid? This question is currently being asked by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. The procedure is not just about whether the federal government can use 60 billion euros, which were intended to combat the Corona crisis in 2021, for climate protection. In the spring of last year, the new opposition faction made up of the CDU and CSU filed a complaint against the transfer of funds to today’s climate and transformation fund by the then new coalition partners of the SPD, Greens and FDP.
It’s about much more. That quickly becomes clear. In her introductory remarks, judge and rapporteur Sibylle Kessal-Wulf quotes US economist James Buchanan as saying: “Government debt is a form of taxation for future generations.” This provided a bridge to a groundbreaking judgment by the First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court in 2021, in which the judges gave special importance to climate protection with a view to future generations.