(Adds comment from Volkswagen)
BERLIN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Environmental activist Clara Mayer
and the heads of Greenpeace Germany have sued Volkswagen
in a German court, the NGO said on Tuesday, accusing
the automaker of failing to do its part to combat climate
change.
The claimants had given Volkswagen eight weeks to consider
their demands, which included ending production of internal
combustion engine cars by 2030 and reducing carbon emissions by
at least 65% from 2018 levels by then, before filing the
suit.
Volkswagen rejected the demands on Oct. 28.
"Volkswagen stands for climate protection and decarbonising
the transport sector, but it cannot tackle this challenge
alone," a spokesperson said in a comment to Reuters.
"The task of designing appropriate measures belongs to
Parliament. Civil court disputes through lawsuits against
singled-out companies are not the place or way to do justice to
this task of great responsibility."
A similar lawsuit was filed in late September by the heads
of German environmental organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe
against BMW and Daimler, when both
companies also rejected demands to end production of fossil
fuel-based cars by 2030 and limit CO2 emissions before then.
The lawsuits draw on two prior climate-related cases: a
German ruling in May 2020 that the country was failing to
protect future generations from the consequences of climate
change, and a Dutch ruling the same month ordering oil firm
Shell to reduce its emissions, the first time a private
company was held responsible for its impact on the climate.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee. Editing by Gerry Doyle and
Paul Carrel)
