Germany's top court ruled that Chancellor Angela Merkel's climate-protection efforts are falling short, a stinging setback for her conservative bloc just months before national elections. The constitutional court in Karlsruhe on Thursday said the government was putting future generations at risk by delaying the bulk of planned cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions to after 2030. It now has until the end of next year to specify how it plans to limit global warming in subsequent years. "For this target to be reached, the reductions still necessary after 2030 will have to be achieved with ever greater speed and urgency," the court said in a statement. "These future obligations to reduce emissions have an impact on practically every type of freedom." The ruling set off a blame game in Merkel's coalition, with cabinet members from her Christian Democrats and the junior Social Democrats saying the other party was at fault for the debacle. Unless the government acts fast, fixing the climate law could fall to the next government, which will likely include the Greens - the strongest force in recent polls.
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