Right to Environment – Verfassungsblog

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14 October 2022

Blanca Soro Mateo, Santiago Álvarez

The Mar Menor Lagoon Enjoys Legal Standing: and now, what?

On 30th September, the Spanish Parliament has completed the ‘Mar Menor Act’, granting legal personality to the lagoon of the Mar Menor and its basin. It is the first legal text in Europe which gives rights and legal standing to a natural body. Notably, the process was initiated by a public campaign triggering the legislative procedure. As legal scholars, we fear that this move, although it constitutes a strong expression of ecological awareness, will not solve the lagoon’s serious environmental deterioration. Continue reading >>

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29 April 2021

Anna-Julia Saiger

The Constitution Speaks in the Future Tense

Who ought to decide on climate issues? Now, the Constitutional Court has decided. It held that the provisions of the Federal Climate Protection Act are “incompatible with fundamental rights insofar as they lack sufficient specifications for further emission reductions from 2031 onwards”. This decision is extraordinary in many ways: in its interpretation of the constitutional obligation to protect the environment (art. 20a of the Basic Law) as much as in its commitment to international cooperation and international law in climate issues. From this decision on, the German constitution will speak in the future tense. Continue reading >>

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