Germans Pursue Legal Action Against Climate Injustice

Air pollution in Mainz, Germany (Wikimedia Commons).

Environmental law charity ClientEarth and non-profit Environmental Action Germany published a press release on September 26 announcing a lawsuit filed by seven German citizens against their government. Their claims stem from the German government’s failure to fulfill international climate goals and from rising pollution levels across Germany that have affected millions. The case was filed to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany and concerns both German and European Union law, (Euractiv). 

In recent years, Germany has failed to meet air quality standards. In 2021, for example, the European Court of Justice found that the German government had breached the EU’s yearly pollution thresholds for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) between 2010 and 2016.  The seven claimants currently reside in Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, andDusseldorf – four of the most polluting cities in the country according to the statement. 

This lawsuit comes a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) lowered its pollution thresholds for the first time since 2005. In September 2021, WHO scientists discovered that pollution exposure may be more dangerous to human health than previously thought. In recent years, German cities have dangerously exceeded safe pollution levels. “The WHO has now set its… upper limit for nitrogen dioxide (NO2)... at 10μg/m3 but hit 70.8 μg/m3 in Munich in the last five years,” according to EuroNews.

The legal basis for this case was established in recent European discourse suggesting the legal culpability of authorities who do not comply with environmental standards.The Paris administrative court found the French government liable of “moral prejudice” for not fulfilling climate change prevention goals in February 2021. In May 2022, Advocate General to the European Court of Justice Julianne Kokott stated that EU governments “may be held liable if they have failed to meet air quality promises.” Kokott also established that claimants would need to prove that environmental pollution directly damaged their health while governments may evade liability if they have a substantial pollution prevention plan in place. 

Despite recent decreases in overall pollution across Europe, particle inhalation remains deadly. The European Environment Agency reports that 307,000 premature deaths within the EU were due to chronic inhalation of fine particulate matter—the same particles inhaled on a daily basis by the claimants of the September 2022 German case. One claimant, Volker Becker-Battaglia, told BBC News, “Air pollution is a problem you can't see. It's not in people's minds, but it's a killer.” The outcome of this case may determine the legal consequences for governments that fail to protect their citizens from the impacts of air pollution. The biggest priority for these seven claimants is advocating for their health and wellbeing.