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Regional Court of Stuttgart - The right place for the dispute about the climate-friendly conversion of Mercedes?
Photo: Christoph Schmidt / dpa
The Stuttgart district court reacted skeptically to the climate lawsuit brought by Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) against Mercedes-Benz.
Judge Bernd Rzymann said on Tuesday that the lawsuit was admissible, but the chamber saw significant problems.
It is the task of the legislature to determine when which vehicles may be produced.
The environmentalists are calling for a climate-friendly conversion of the car manufacturer.
They are particularly concerned with reducing the carbon dioxide emissions of the models in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement and the German Climate Protection Act.
Among other things, Mercedes should no longer be allowed to sell conventional combustion engines that emit greenhouse gases from November 2030.
DUH lawyer Remo Klinger said greenhouse gas emissions cannot be recovered.
Therefore, the court must decide today.
The environmentalists feel that their personal rights have been violated.
The court complained that this could not be specified today.
It is difficult to assert individual protection.
Mercedes-Benz lawyer Markus Rieder argued that the company is already doing more than the law requires.
A spokeswoman had emphasized in advance that the company wants to become fully electric by the end of this decade, where market conditions allow.
The CO2 footprint per car should therefore be reduced by more than half by 2030 compared to 2020.
According to its own statements, the DUH is also suing BMW and the energy company Wintershall Dea in addition to Mercedes.
Last year, the DUH, together with Greenpeace, initiated the first proceedings against corporations after the climate decision of the Federal Constitutional Court.
In the civil proceedings of the DUH, the hearing before the Stuttgart court is now the first in the first instance.
In the Netherlands, the oil company Shell was condemned to do more climate protection last year.
chs/dpa
