Germany’s highest appeals court has rejected an activist group’s attempt to stop it BMW And Mercedes Benz from the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles.
German Environmental Aid (DUH) wanted to ban the car giants from selling cars with internal combustion engines by 2030, but previous decisions against the case were confirmed.
According to the news agency Reuters, The DUH claimed that BMW and Mercedes-Benz had exceeded their “carbon budget” – with the group itself calculating the carbon budget for each company based on Germany’s climate protection law, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent by 2030.
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The nonprofit claimed the two automakers accounted for a disproportionate share of the country’s “remaining carbon budget.”
Despite defeat in two previous court cases, the organization’s representatives persisted and appealed to the Federal Court of Justice.
“From the Paris Agreement and the Federal Climate Protection Act, an emissions budget can only be derived globally and for the Federal Republic of Germany as a whole, but not for individual actors or even the transport sector,” the court further ruled Clean energy wire.
It is understood that BMW and Mercedes-Benz welcomed the ruling while emphasizing their commitment to sustainability goals.
Statements from the car manufacturers published by the newspaper Free press The legal requirements for climate goals and the manner in which they are implemented would lie with the government – and not with the courts.
In addition, a spokesman for BMW said Reuters The decision provided “legal certainty for companies operating in Germany”.
It is not the first time that a DUH lawsuit has been dismissed by the courts.
In 2022, the organization tried to sue Mercedes-Benz on the grounds that the car company was not switching to a zero-emission product range quickly enough – the Stuttgart regional court dismissed the case.
As reported by Daily Sparkz Twelve months ago, the DUH also tried to sue the country’s Federal Motor Transport Authority for allowing US pickups on German roads – even though the large vans only account for around 0.1 percent of annual car sales.
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