Last dash: German lawmakers pass climate, crime bills

German lawmakers have approved bills setting tougher targets for tackling climate change, new rules on second trials for serious crimes and measures to undo injustices resulting from the Nazi era

BERLIN -- German lawmakers approved bills setting tougher targets for tackling climate change, new rules on second trials for serious crimes and measures to undo injustices resulting from the Nazi era during a marathon meeting of parliament that ended in the early hours of Friday. With the Bundestag going into summer recess, lawmakers dashed to pass bills on numerous hot-button issues ahead of national elections in September. They approved the government's proposal for Germany to set a tougher target of reducing the country's greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045 — five years earlier than planned. The new climate law, spurred by a recent court ruling, also sets interim targets to reduce emissions of planet-warming gases by 65% compared with 1990 by 2030, and 88% by 2040. Restrictions on the use of pesticides, including glyphosate — the active ingredient in weed killer Roundup — were agreed, to better protect insects.