A report coming in from Germany is claiming that both BMW and Daimler (the parent company of Mercedes-Benz) are being sued by an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) for “refusing to tighten their carbon emissions targets”. Furthermore, the lawsuit is allegedly also challenging their decision to keep internal combustion engine (ICE) cars in production past 2030.
Tthe report was actually confirmed for German publication, Handelsblatt by the NGO, namely Deutsche Umwelthilfe. The lawsuit has been filed on Monday evening, after the two German car makers failed to agree to their demands. Apparently, the NGO was in contact with both Daimler and BMW and proposed a settlement which had a deadline that expired on September 20. Since none of the two agreed to the terms, on Monday evening the lawsuit was filed.
The NGO’s demands included limiting the production of internal combustion engine cars before 2030. So far, neither BMW or Daimler announced a clear end date for their ICE offerings. BMW did set out to turn the MINI brand into an all-electric one. Furthermore, according to Reuters, BMW and Daimler both confirmed that they had not accepted the NGO’s demands and that they are being sued. The lawsuit itself is using a court ruling from the Netherlands.
Back in May 2020, environmental groups that had previously sued oil company Shell for not doing enough to mitigate its impact on the climate recorded a win. Due to this court’s ruling, the company was forced to reduce its emissions, this being the first time a private company had to accept such a drastic measure.
