German organic farmer fails in court

Farmer Ulf Allhoff-Cramer had argued that the effects of climate change would affect his property and his health. He had accused VW of excessive CO2 emissions and demanded they stop doing so. The car company must significantly reduce the sale of cars and light commercial vehicles with combustion engines and stop it completely in 2030.

However, the judges rejected this plan. In their verdict, announced on Friday, they pointed out that it was not certain whether the alleged impairments would be eliminated with the required cessation of internal combustion engine activities. The court justified its decision by saying that VW cannot be forced to rely solely on electric propulsion technology in the future, as there are other serious alternatives to petrol and diesel engines, such as fuel cell powertrains.

Greenpeace was disappointed and announced that it would appeal. “The verdict gives the fatal impression that the court did not want to go into the detailed connection between VW’s massive CO2 emissions and the damage already felt by the plaintiff,” said Greenpeace board member Martin Kaiser.

Volkswagen, on the other hand, saw confirmation of its position that climate lawsuits against individual companies that had been singled out were the wrong approach and that there was no legal basis for this.

A similar Greenpeace climate case before the Braunschweig Regional Court also recently failed.

(SDA)

Source: Blick