Climate protection and freedom - how do they fit together?Panel discussion at the anniversary conference of the German Climate Consortium

4 May 2022, by CSS

Photo: DKK/Youtube

What role freedom plays in climate protection, where the limits lie and what the Federal Constitutional Court's climate ruling tells us about this were discussed by experts at the annual digital conference of the German Climate Consortium on March 31. One of the experts was CSS member and co-director Prof. Dr. Frank Adloff who spoke about whether limits to growth mean limits to freedom. Also speaking were experts Mark Lawrence, Frank Adloff, Angela Schwerdtfeger, Torsten Meireis and Christian Calliess. The event was moderated by Marie-Luise Beck.
"The protection of future freedom also requires us to initiate the transition to climate neutrality in good time," said the Federal Constitutional Court in March 2021. The German government now intends to tackle this with great momentum. In view of a wide variety of path dependencies, considerable challenges, even resistance, are to be expected. Different conceptions of freedom play a central role in this. At this year's annual digital conference of the German Climate Consortium, renowned scientists therefore discussed various conceptions of freedom. The non-negotiability of biological and physical realities in times of climate change and the associated lessons for the climate policy turnaround, were also discussed.

To watch the discussion, recorded as video, click here (in German).