Die globale Reichweite der grundrechtlichen Schutzpflicht

The climate decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court has brought the state's obligation to protect the climate, derived from the German fundamental rights into the focus of attention. The intertemporal dimension of the obligation to protect has caused praise and surprise. Another question concerns the global dimensions of the constitutional obligations to protect the climate, namely whether foreigners abroad can invoke the fundamental rights obligation to protect the climate towards the German state – or, to put it bluntly: Does the German state have a fundamental rights responsibility for a person who neither has German citizenship nor will ever reside in Germany?Eventhough the climate decision explicitly left open the question of whether foreigners abroad can invoke the fundamental rights obligations, clear indications can beg leaned from the decision.The extent to which foreigners abroad can invoke fundamental rights protection obligations is considerably limited by the lack of the Germanstate authorities' possibilities for action abroad.
With regard to foreigners abroad, the Federal Constitutional Court will only conduct a limited review of the fundamental right to climateprotection. However, the fundamental recognition of aclimate protection obligation infavor of foreigners abroad means that the legislature may use this protection obligation to justify domestic climate protection measures.

Auor: Dr. Maximilian Weinrich