Carmaker and cement manufacturer face climate change lawsuit

Organic farmer Ulf Allhoff-Cramer had filed a lawsuit against Volkswagen (VW) at the Detmold Regional Court in spring 2021. The second hearing in the case took place in early February.

Among other things, Allhoff-Cramer is seeking an injunction to force the carmaker to completely stop the production and sale of vehicles with combustion engines worldwide by 2030 for climate protection reasons. He is supported by Greenpeace.

Allhoff-Cramer is from the German district of Lippe and runs an organic farm and forestry business. He claims in court that the world’s second largest car manufacturer is partly responsible for the damage that has been and will be caused to his farm and forest by droughts and heavy rain due to the CO2 emissions of its vehicles.

At the first oral hearing in May 2022, the court was critical of the case. Mr Allhoff-Cramer had to explain the specific damage he had suffered and which of his rights had been violated by the CO2 emissions. In addition, the Detmold Regional Court saw problems with regard to causality. For example, it was unclear how and whether the CO2 emissions and the associated consequences were attributable to the car manufacturer. After the first oral hearing, Allhoff-Cramer's lawyers partly "amended and extensively supplemented" some of the claims, according to the court.

During the second oral hearing, the farmer reiterated that there was a causal chain from the car manufacturer’s emissions to the concrete damage and impairment of his farm. In this context, he also presented an expert opinion by a Potsdam-based climate scientist. In this report, the scientist argues that, within the framework of so-called attribution science, it is possible to demonstrate a legally tenable causal chain between emissions and changes in the context of climate change.

VW disagreed with this view, and the court also expressed doubts as to whether there was a demonstrable link between certain emissions and concrete disadvantages for individual persons.

The plaintiff then referred to the proceedings before the Higher Regional Court of Hamm against a major German energy company and suggested that the Regional Court of Detmold, like the Regional Court of Hamm, conduct an evidentiary hearing on the question of causality.

As is often the case in such climate lawsuits, the defendants objected on the basis of the principle of the separation of powers, pointing out that it is not the courts' job to decide on difficult socio-political issues, but rather the legislature's job to strike an appropriate balance between the many conflicting interests.

For its part, the court saw "difficulties" in dealing with the plaintiff’s claim of a "right to preserve greenhouse gas freedom", that is to be derived from a decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court of March 2021. 

The Detmold Regional Court has set a date for Friday, 24 February 2023, to announce its decision. Greenpeace has said it will appeal to the next higher court if the court dismisses the case.

Other climate lawsuits against German car manufacturers are still pending. However, a case against Mercedes-Benz was dismissed by the Stuttgart Regional Court in September 2022, and another one against BMW was dismissed just this week.

Climate lawsuits are on the rise around the world and are becoming increasingly diverse, both in terms of their legal justification and in the choice of defendants. Experts believe that the number of claims will continue to grow as society increasingly recognises human responsibility for climate change and this is also taken into account in the law. As a result, the risk of companies of becoming the subject of a climate change litigation is expected to increase significantly.

Last week, for example, legal proceedings were initiated in the Swiss canton of Zug against one of the world's largest cement manufacturers. After a conciliation process initiated in July 2022 remained unsuccessful, four residents of the Indonesian island of Pari, with the help of several NGOs, have filed a lawsuit against the company.

They are demanding proportional compensation for climate-related damage on Pari, financial participation in flood protection measures for the island, and a 43 % reduction in the cement manufacturer's CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2019 levels.

This climate action is special because it combines the aspects of a greenhouse gas reduction commitment and a compensation claim in a single procedure.

The cement manufacturer is likely to be the target of the lawsuit because the industry is considered one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the world. The production of cement mainly involves the use of clinker, which is responsible for hardening the material and has a large carbon footprint.