A case led by Greenpeace against Volkswagen calling on the car manufacturing company to tighten its carbon emissions targets has been dismissed by a regional court in Germany, the company and the climate group said in separate statements on Tuesday.
The case was filed by two heads of Greenpeace Germany and environmental activist Clara Mayer who argued that the carmaker was violating their fundamental freedoms via its impact on climate change.
“The last word on our climate lawsuits against Volkswagen was not spoken today,” Roland Hipp, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “We are planning further legal steps and are confident that we can persuade Volkswagen to do more on climate protection by legal means.”
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Meanwhile, Volkswagen has lauded the court’s decision, reiterating its previous argument that civil lawsuits against individual companies were not the right way to determine action on climate change.
The carmaker will face another hearing on February 24 in Detmold, Germany in a lawsuit by a farmer, also supported by Greenpeace, who argues that the carmaker’s emissions are ruining his land and threatening his livelihood.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
