Carmakers swerve past green drive

Carmakers made it unscathed through a series of lawsuits led by green groups demanding they restrict their carbon emissions, with the final ruling issued last week. But the battle is not over, with all plaintiffs pledging to appeal.

The heads of Greenpeace Germany and environment group Deutsche Umwelthilfe, climate activist Clara Mayer, and farmer Ulf Allhoff-Cramer targeted three carmakers with lawsuits in last year.

The filings, against Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen, demanded that automakers end production of fossil fuel-emitting cars by 2030, and ensure the carbon emitted by their cars and factories before then does not exceed a certain limit.

They argued that the carmakers' carbon footprint was infringing on their rights to live a life free of greenhouse gases, enshrined in a ruling by Germany's federal court in May 2021. In a series of hearings, however, judges ruled that the link between the infringement of citizens' rights and the carmakers' actions were not clear enough.