Climate lawsuit against VW fails in next instance
A lawsuit filed by climate activists against the Volkswagen Group has also failed in the next instance. The Higher Regional Court of Braunschweig dismissed the appeal against a judgment of the Braunschweig District Court from February 14. The court announced this on Friday. (Az. 2 U 8/23) In the lawsuit supported by Greenpeace, the plaintiffs aimed to make Volkswagen stop producing petrol cars from at least 2030 and to obligate Volkswagen to reduce its own CO2 emissions by 65% compared to 2018 by 2030.
The plaintiffs argued with the protection of their freedom and property rights, which they see threatened by climate change. Volkswagen contributes significantly to climate change with its cars and the resulting CO2 emissions. The claim was also based on the Climate Judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court, which had decided in 2021 that future generations have a right to climate protection.
The Braunschweig District Court had rejected the claim in February and stated that it was "essentially admissible, but without success in substance". The Federal Government had fulfilled its duty to protect citizens in the sense of the Climate Judgment of the Constitutional Court with the Federal Climate Protection Act. Volkswagen, in turn, complied "with the applicable public-law regulations".
The Higher Regional Court now followed this argumentation and classified the appeal as "obviously unfounded". However, like the District Court, the Higher Regional Court did not make a statement on the fundamental question, "whether the statutory climate protection provisions are sufficient" - this could not be decided in the present legal dispute. The District Court had also left open whether Volkswagen could be held liable for damages caused by climate change in fact. The judgment from Braunschweig is not legally binding yet. The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe can still be involved.
Despite arguing that their freedoms and property rights are threatened by Volkswagen's contributions to climate change through co-emissions from its combustion engines, the lawsuit against VW for ceasing petrol car production and reducing CO2 emissions by 65% by 2030 was dismissed at the next instance by the Higher Regional Court of Braunschweig. The court ruled that the appeal was "obviously unfounded," similar to the District Court's previous decision, but did not address the fundamental question of whether the current climate protection regulations are sufficient.
