Enlarge image
Greenpeace protest against cars at the IAA Motor Show in Frankfurt (2019)
Photo: RONALD WITTEK / EPA-EFE / REX
Mercedes-Benz was the first company to respond to the injunction by German Environmental Aid (DUH) and Greenpeace.
They see "no basis" for stopping the sale of cars with internal combustion engines from 2030 onwards.
A spokesman for the Stuttgart company said this when asked by SPIEGEL. If it came to a lawsuit, then one would defend "with all means" legally. "Mercedes-Benz has already initiated the change of lane to climate neutrality," the group representative continued. You also accept the Paris climate decisions. "We have also accelerated the transformation to an emission-free future by changing our strategy from" Electric first "to" Electric only "," the spokesman continued.
Greenpeace and the DUH presented four cease and desist requests on Friday in Berlin, which they submitted not only against Mercedes but also against VW, BMW and the mineral oil company Wintershall Dea.
As SPIEGEL reported, they want to ensure that car manufacturers are no longer allowed to sell combustion engines from November 2030.
This results from the average useful life of a car of 14.2 years.
BMW wants to examine injunctive relief first
All cars sold after that would still be in service in 2045. Until then, however, Germany wants to be climate neutral. For the energy group Wintershall, DUH has calculated a remaining emissions budget of 930 million tons. Thus Wintershall Dea will have to stop producing both crude oil and natural gas in 11.9 years, writes DUH lawyer Remo Klinger in a letter to the group that was sent on Thursday evening.
When asked by SPIEGEL, the Munich-based car manufacturer BMW confirmed the receipt of the injunction, but left it open how it would react to it.
"We will now examine and evaluate this," said a spokesman.
However, he pointed out that his company already feels that it is a pioneer in climate protection.
"The commitment to sustainability has long been firmly anchored in the corporate culture and business orientation of the BMW Group," said the spokesman.
Environmental groups distrust the corporate announcements
The environmental activists disagree. "We cannot rely on media promises," said DUH attorney Klinger at the presentation of the legal proceedings on Friday. None of the companies have yet recognized that they only have a certain CO2 budget available. The Federal Constitutional Court clearly saw this in its climate decision from spring, which is why civil law claims will now be asserted against the corporations in order to force the corporations to consistently protect the climate. "If you are serious," said Klinger to the companies, "then sign the cease and desist letters and waive legal action."
Klinger and his lawyer colleague Roda Verheyen have calculated how much CO₂ the four groups are still allowed to release with their products.
In the case of the car companies, they based their estimates on the annual amount of cars produced, their CO₂ emissions and an average mileage of 200,000 kilometers.
For BMW this results in a residual amount of 604 million tons of carbon dioxide, for Mercedes-Benz of 511 million tons of CO₂.
These quantities, argues Klinger, should be emitted "between January 1, 2022 and October 31, 2030," not a ton.
For VW, the second largest automaker in the world, attorney Verheyen gives the CO2 budget in percent.
According to this, the Wolfsburg-based company would have to reduce its "annual aggregate CO2 emissions by 65 percent compared to 2018" by January 2030.