German lawmakers propose enshrining climate protection in basic law

As much of Europe swelters under a heatwave, a group of German ministers wants to enshrine climate protection in the constitution, a plan that sparked pushback from within the government Monday. [ . . . ] Ministers from the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), junior coalition partners to Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives, are pushing the amendment as a way to better work with local and regional authorities on adapting to climate change. The SPD's four-page proposal, seen by AFP, would enshrine a "joint mission for climate adaptation and nature conservation" in the German constitution, known as the Basic Law. The proposal also outlines a national "heat action plan", changes to urban planning laws and construction codes, and new labour laws to address working in sweltering temperatures.
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