Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

German farmers sue government over missed climate targets

1068351
1068351
minus
plus


VETSCHAU, Germany: Dismayed by the German government’s failure to meet climate protection targets, dairy farmer Heiner Luetke Schwienhorst has filed a lawsuit against Berlin to force it into action.


“Some describe this as a fight between David and Goliath. To me, that’s besides the point,” said Schwienhorst, who suffered his poorest harvest in three decades after a record drought.


“The attitude of political representatives, the way they trivialise climate targets by giving up what they have set, is something that we need to bring to political accountability. That is important,” he said.


Together with two other farmers and Greenpeace, Schwienhorst has launched a challenge against the German government for having “given up” trying to achieve cuts in greenhouse gas emissions set out under its own climate target, as well as under European law.


A dairy farmer near Hamburg and a livestock farmer on the North Sea island of Pellworm have joined the first such lawsuit to seek “climate protection, not monetary compensation.”


Berlin had pledged to take action to slash greenhouse gas emissions in Germany by 40 per cent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels.


But in its latest annual climate protection report published in June, the government admitted that it was now expecting to achieve 32 per cent in reductions compared to 1990.


The shortfall of 8 percentage points is equivalent to about 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.


“It was clear in the climate protection report that the government is not planning to take further measures in order to reach the target. Instead, it has simply given up,” said Anike Peters of Greenpeace.


“We’re saying we’re not going to accept this. Because it’s not about a lack of technical possibilities to reach the target, rather it’s about a lack of political will.


With the help of lawyer Roda Verheyen, the plaintiffs lodged their case at the administrative court in Berlin at the end of October.


The court now needs to decide if there is any merit to the case. Verheyen is no stranger to such climate cases.


In another high profile case in Germany, she helped bring to court a challenge by a Peruvian farmer against energy giant RWE over climate change damage in the Andes.


While the initial ruling went against them, the case is now at the appeals court.


Verheyen said that in her latest case, the issue is whether the government can be held liable for failing to implement climate protection measures, as the targets it set are not written into law.


“Here the plaintiff families say, yes. Do what you’ve promised, government, implement the 2020 climate protection goal.”


The environment ministry, which is taking the lead in responding to the case, said the plaintiffs had every right to bring the issue to court “to seek public attention” and increase the pressure for better climate protection.


“Although Germany’s climate protection efforts have made progress, they have not yet reached our goals,” ministry spokesman Andreas Kuebler said. “That’s why we’re focusing on getting ahead in climate protection.


“We are united in the same goal,” Kuebler said. It was up to the court to decide whether the legal action was justified. — AFP



SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon