In December 2019, the highest civil court in the Netherlands sentenced the Dutch state to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 % by the end of 2020 compared to the reference year 1990. This obligation arose from the duty to protect in Art. 2 and Art. 8 ECHR, which, based on the broad international consensus and the state of climate science, oblige the Netherlands to comply with this standard. In Germany, such an action will be dealt with at the Administrative or Constitutional Court, although the legal standing is problematic. Unlike in the Netherlands, the ECHR is not directly applicable. However, its evaluations must be taken into account when interpreting the fundamental rights of the Constitution. The state's duty to protect is part of the fundamental rights of the German Constitution. However, the state has a wide margin of appreciation in the fulfilment of its duties to protect. Thus, the courts can only examine whether the existing regulations for the protection of the endangered fundamental rights are completely unsuitable or completely inadequate.