The district court of Braunschweig has one supported by Greenpeace Lawsuit filed by environmental lawyer Roda Verheyen (51)
for more climate protection Volkswagen rejected. “The lawsuit is admissible in essential parts, but has no success in the matter,” said the court on Tuesday. Greenpeace and one of the four plaintiffs announced further legal action against VW.
The plaintiffs, supported by environmentalists, are demanding that VW stop producing combustion engines by 2030 at the latest. In addition, VW should be obliged to reduce its own CO2 emissions by 65 percent by 2030 compared to 2018. “Future generations must not knowingly and negligently be disadvantaged compared to today,” said Verheyen before the trial in the mm interview
.
The lawsuit was also based on the climate judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court, which ruled in 2021 that future generations have a right to climate protection. Verheyen fought for this historical verdict himself. The plaintiffs argued that their freedom and property rights were protected by the climate change see threatened. With the CO2 emissions from its cars, Volkswagen is making a significant contribution to global warming.
The court explained that it left open whether Volkswagen could actually be held responsible for damage caused by climate change. In any case, the plaintiffs would have to put up with the CO2 emissions and “any impairment of their legal interests” caused by climate change. Because the federal government has fulfilled its obligation to protect the citizens in the sense of the climate judgment of the constitutional court with the Federal Climate Protection Act.
“Corporations like Volkswagen have a responsibility”
And Volkswagen, in turn, adheres to “the applicable public law regulations,” the court said. “The obligations of a private company do not go further than the state’s obligations to protect arising directly from fundamental rights.”
Greenpeace and the plaintiff Roland Hipp (62) do not want to be satisfied with that. “Climate-damaging corporations like Volkswagen have a responsibility to reduce their CO2 emissions much more quickly and to end their fossil fuel business model,” said the executive board of Greenpeace Germany. “This is the only way to slow down the climate crisis.” On Tuesday, Hipp reiterated his demand that VW must stop selling millions of climate-damaging combustion engines by 2030 at the latest.
Greenpeace also supports an organic farmer’s lawsuit against VW in the Detmold district court. The court plans to announce its decision on February 24. The farmer also wants to use the lawsuit to ensure that VW no longer produces cars with combustion engines by 2030.