The “Deutsche Umwelthilfe” (German Environmental Aid) was then probably rebuffed: The Stuttgart Regional Court dismissed the DUH’s lawsuit against Mercedes-Benz in the first instance. The controversial environmentalists are demanding stricter climate protection measures from the car manufacturer than required by law.
But that goes too far, argues the court. It is up to the legislator to decide which measures are to be taken to comply with climate protection. This cannot be anticipated by an individual action before a civil court. Mercedes-Benz welcomed the decision and stated that the company saw this as confirmation of its legal position. Environmental Aid wants Mercedes to stop selling passenger cars with combustion engines by 2030 at the latest. With the cars sold in 2021 alone, the group is responsible for 65.5 million tons of climate-damaging CO2 worldwide. This is more than countries like Finland, Norway or Portugal. The remaining CO2 budget that Mercedes is still entitled to according to DUH calculations is already dramatically small. If emissions remained at the same level, the last combustion engines would have to come off the assembly line as early as 2026. “The point here is that large corporations with a CO2 footprint that is larger than many countries must have a binding exit path from their greenhouse gas emissions,” said DUH lawyer Remo Klinger Balancing the interests of fundamental rights presupposes that the plaintiffs can at least foresee the consequences of the behavior to be prohibited. However, that is not the case here. The claim demanded by the DUH also contradicted the constitutional division of tasks between legislation by Parliament and the courts. The DUH countered that the environmental organization was forced to go to court because the legislature was not taking action. In addition to Mercedes, environmental aid is also suing the car manufacturer BMW and the oil and natural gas company Wintershall Dea. Wintershall should be obliged not to develop any new oil and gas fields from 2026 at the latest – the supplier has promised CO2 neutrality by 2030. A similar lawsuit is being filed against Volkswagen. The DUH and the environmental association Greenpeace announced last year that they would sue the car manufacturer and Wintershall after the groundbreaking judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court on climate protection. Specifically, the associations are calling for car manufacturers to phase out the production of combustion engines by 2030, with reference to the requirements of the Paris Climate Protection Agreement. In order to implement the climate targets, no petrol or diesel cars should be permitted in the EU from 2035. The DUH “enjoys” you dubious reputation as far as environmental protection is concerned. Too often she has filed lawsuits with the probable goal of self-financing. The managing directors of DUH have already announced that they will take the Mercedes lawsuit to the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court.
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