Volkswagen has been sued in a German court by the heads of Greenpeace Germany and 20-year-old environmental activist Clara Mayer for not doing enough to combat climate change.
Greenpeace Germany and Mayer issued Volkswagen with a number of demands, including a stipulation to end production of internal combustion engines by 2030 and reducing carbon emissions by at least 65 per cent from 2018 levels by 2030. The German automaker swiftly rejected the demands, prompting the claimants to file the suit, Reuters reports.
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This lawsuit draws on two cases last year that included a German ruling in May that the country was failing to protect future generations from the consequences of climate change. A Dutch ruling came in the same month that ordered Shell to reduce its emissions, marking the first time a private company had been held responsible for its emissions in such a way.
“Volkswagen stands for climate protection and decarbonizing the transport sector, but it cannot tackle this challenge alone,” a VW spokesperson told Reuters. “The task of designing appropriate measures belongs to Parliament. Civil court disputes through lawsuits against singled-out companies are not the place or way to do justice to this task of great responsibility.”
German environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe filed a similar lawsuit against BMW and Daimler in September after the automakers rejected demands to end production of fossil fuel-based cars by 2030.
Volkswagen is aiming for the majority of its vehicles to be zero-emission in all major markets by 2040 and is looking to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
