Abstract
<p>Climate change is the greatest threat to humanity. Achieving the 1.5 °C target is theoretically possible at best. In this extreme situation, it is only natural to resort to the so called “sharpest sword of the state”: the criminal law. But history warns us to be cautious: Secondary criminal law can only ever protect what the legal system already recognizes. This study examines, whether a “climate criminal law” in a broader sense safeguarding emissions trading could create a system of sanctions that does not once again fall into the trap of “administrative accessoriness”. For this it takes into account fundamental principles such as the principle of guilt, protection of legal interests (“Rechtsgüterschutz”) and the structure of torts.</p>