Green activists lose legal battle to ban petrol, diesel car sales – report

Germany’s top appeals court has struck down a bid by an activist group to stop BMW and Mercedes-Benz from selling petrol and diesel vehicles.

Environmental Action Germany (known locally as Deutsche Umwelthilfe, or DUH) sought to ban the car giants from selling combustion-powered cars by 2030, however previous rulings against the case were upheld.

According to news outlet Reuters, DUH claimed 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 Action Law, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65 per cent by 2030.

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The non-profit alleged the two automakers held a disproportionate share of the nation’s “remaining carbon budget”.

Despite losing two previous legal attempts, representatives for the organisation persisted, taking the appeal to the Federal Court of Justice.

“An emissions budget can be derived from the Paris Agreement and the Federal Climate Action Law only in global terms and for the Federal Republic of Germany as a whole, but not for individual actors or even just the transport sector,” the court ruled, according to Clean Energy Wire.

It’s understood BMW and Mercedes-Benz welcomed the ruling, while emphasising their commitment to sustainability goals.

Statements from the automakers published by newspaper Freie Presse said legal mandates for climate targets, and how they should be implemented, were up to the government – not the courts.

Furthermore, a spokesperson for BMW told Reuters the decision provided “legal certainty for companies operating in Germany”.

It’s not the first time a lawsuit brought by DUH has been shot down by the courts.

In 2022, the organisation attempted to sue Mercedes-Benz, alleging the car company wasn’t transitioning to a zero-emission product lineup quickly enough – with the Stuttgart District Court throwing out the case.

As reported by CarExpert 12 months ago, DUH has also attempted to sue the country’s Federal Motor Transport Authority for allowing US pickups on German roads – despite the big utes only accounting for roughly 0.1 per cent of annual car sales.

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