Volkswagen “respects applicable regulations”, ruled the court of Brunswick (Lower Saxony), indicating that the obligations of companies cannot be higher than those established by law.
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The authors of the action, two members of the Greenpeace Germany and climate activist Clara Meyer, also wanted to force the world's second largest car manufacturer to reduce its emissions by 2030 by 65% compared to 2018.
The demand of Greenpeace was based on the German constitutional court's verdict in April 2021, which found the government's plans to reduce CO2 emissions to be insufficient.
Subsequently, the government of former Chancellor Angela Merkel had to bring forward its carbon neutrality target, initially set for 2045, to 2050, and raise the emissions reduction target to 2030.
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O Greenpeace claims that this same obligation weighs on private companies, but the court argued that “the obligations of the private company do not go beyond the State's duty to protect directly arising from fundamental rights".
The main European car manufacturer welcomed the decision, which reiterates the case law on the matter.
“Accusing specific companies for climate reasons is not the correct way to proceed and lacks legal basis”, declared the Volkswagen in a statement.
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According to the objectives formulated last year, the group stated that it wanted to sell 50% of electric vehicles between now and 2030, and “almost 100%” by 2040, in its main markets.
We haven’t said our last word”, declared Roland Hipp, head of Greenpeace, in a statement, indicating that the organization foresees “other legal resources”.
(To AFP)
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