The environmental associations Greenpeace and Deutsche Umwelthilfe want to sue the German carmaker and the oil and gas company Wintershall Dea for inadequate climate protection measures. The managing directors of the associations wanted civil law suits against BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen and the majority too BASF The organizations declared on Friday that Wintershall Dea owned by Wintershall Dea should be submitted to the regional courts. If necessary, complaints are made for violation of the protection of property, health and civil liberties. The claims are from the Judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court derived for climate protection, which already forced the federal government to stricter guidelines. The companies are given a deadline of a few weeks to respond to the demands of climate protectionists and avert the lawsuits with credible CO2 reduction paths.
Specifically, with reference to the requirements of the Paris Climate Protection Agreement, the associations are calling for internal combustion engines to be phased out by 2030, because the agreement results in a remaining CO2 emissions budget that must not be exceeded. For the implementation of the climate targets, however, the EU Commission has proposed 2035 as a deadline from which only emission-free new vehicles should be registered. Wintershall Dea is to undertake not to develop any new oil and gas fields by 2026 at the latest – the supplier has promised CO2 neutrality by 2030.
The environmentalists see good chances for the legal procedure also because of one Judgment in the Netherlands against the oil company Shell, which was ordered to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45 percent by 2030 compared to 2019. The company appeals against it.
“Predator lobby”
As a first step, the plaintiffs sent letters of claim to the companies. It says that the current and planned measures of the corporations contradict the climate goals of Paris and are therefore illegal. “Despite increasing extreme weather events and contrary to scientific findings, the German auto industry continues to sell millions of climate-damaging diesel and gasoline engines worldwide,” the associations accused the carmakers of. The CO2 footprint of the most important German industry was thus greater in 2019 than that of the entire country. “Civil law can and must prevent corporations from destroying our livelihoods and depriving our children and grandchildren of the right to a secure future,” said Roda Verheyen, Greenpeace’s lawyer. DUH managing director Jürgen Resch declared that the “predatory lobbyism” of the auto industry against climate protection should be ended.
The automakers referred to their plans to change the offer Electric cars and CO2 reduction throughout production. BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen committed themselves to the goal of the Paris climate agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. “The BMW Group is a pioneer in the fight against climate change in the automotive industry.” Daimler stated that the company saw no basis for an injunction and would defend itself against a lawsuit with all legal means. Volkswagen wants to check the submitted pleading. “In general, we do not consider this approach and the announcement of a lawsuit against an individual company to be an appropriate means of solving important societal challenges,” said the group. Wintershall Dea also wanted to check the warning letter from the environmental lobbies first and not comment on it yet.