German SPD ministers push to anchor heat protection in constitution against Union resistance

Ministerial initiative for constitutional reform

Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider and four fellow SPD cabinet members, including Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, are proposing an amendment to the German Basic Law. The initiative seeks to amend Article 91a to establish climate adaptation and nature conservation as a constitutionally defined joint task shared by the federal government, states, and municipalities. Under the current federal framework, planning and financing for local climate resilience rest primarily with state and municipal authorities, restricting direct federal funding to individual pilot projects. Backers of the reform point to calculations from the Robert Koch Institute estimating that extreme heat conditions over recent weeks caused more than 12,000 deaths across Germany.

Immediate action plan and interim funding

Alongside the constitutional proposal, SPD ministers presented an immediate action program addressing extreme heat, prolonged droughts, and critically low water levels on waterways like the Rhine. The plan outlines a strategy to coordinate and expand existing federal support programs over the next three years to renovate hospitals, elderly care homes, and child daycare facilities. The initiative also proposes a national heat action plan, enhanced workplace protections for employees during extreme heat, and updates to urban construction planning regulations. Lars Klingbeil indicated that measures could draw funding from the federal Special Fund for Infrastructure and Climate Neutrality. In Bavaria, state SPD leader Ronja Endres advocated using resources from the municipal relief act, which allocates roughly one billion euros annually through 2029, for hospital cooling upgrades.

This summer is a bitter foretaste of what will come upon us more frequently.

Coalition friction and legislative hurdles

The proposal encountered resistance from the SPD's governing partner, the CDU/CSU alliance. Passing a constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority in both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, meaning the governing coalition cannot approve the measure without votes from opposition parties. While representatives from the Green Party and The Left expressed willingness to support the change, the CDU maintains a policy barring formal cooperation with The Left. Philipp Amthor, the Minister of State for Federal-State Cooperation, argued that existing mechanisms, such as urban adaptation funding and the climate special fund, must be utilized fully before altering constitutional jurisdictions. Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann criticized the idea of federal oversight as bureaucratic overreach that contradicts administrative simplification efforts.

Government review and regional outlook

Deputy government spokesperson Sebastian Hille announced that the federal cabinet will review the SPD proposal internally, adding that Chancellor Friedrich Merz is closely examining the matter. Schneider confirmed that he plans to present a concrete draft for the constitutional amendment in the second half of 2026. Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace and Deutsche Umwelthilfe, along with social associations and trade unions, endorsed the push for constitutional backing. CDU officials across various federal states maintain that regional disparities in climate risks require adaptation decisions to remain decentralized. Deliberations within the federal government will determine whether the proposal advances to a parliamentary vote ahead of the next federal election.