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Environmental Action Germany

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Environmental Action Germany
Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.
Location
  • Hannover, Germany
Websitewww.duh.de

Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V. (DUH) (employing the English name Environmental Action Germany) is a non-profit environmental and consumer protection association, supported by public and private project grants and donations. It is a member of the European Environmental Bureau, in Brussels. It has the legal right to represent group claims in court against projects that it considers a threat to the environment. The group also aims to provide a forum for dialogue between environmental organizations, politicians and business people.

Notable work

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Frieda Egeling, the youngest of the 11 complainants in the KSG case, photographed in December 2024

In 2017, DUH filed a suit against Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), accusing it of failing to act robustly enough over Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal.[1]

In 2023, DUH lodged a complaint calling for the operating licence of the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) ship Höegh Esperanza at Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal to be shortened by a decade citing its discharging of chlorine and risks to Germany's climate targets.[2]

In May 2024, the DUH launched legal action against the German federal government for failing to act sufficiently under the Climate Protection Act (Klimaschutzgesetz or KSG).[3][4] There are 11 accompanying complainants, with the youngest being 14 years old at the time of filing.[5][6]

Political pressure

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At its party congress on 8 December 2018, Germans conservative party CDU decided to have the non-profit status of the DUH examined. The motion was tabled by Steffen Bilger, a member of Bundestag for CDU, who is also Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry of Transport, as chairman of the CDU district association Nordwuerttemberg. The CDU also wants to ensure that the association no longer receives funds from the federal budget. The Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federal Ministry of Economics subsequently declared that they would continue to promote the DUH. The responsible tax office in Singen stressed that it could only take action if there were concrete indications. In the ARD magazine Monitor, the lawyer Joachim Wieland commented on Bilger's stance against the DUH that the policy had long watched in connection with the violations of emission values and did not intervene out of consideration for the automotive industry. Now they are trying to steer the resulting anger away from politics and the automotive industry, towards the courts and the Environmental Action Germany.[7]

Critics

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In March 2017, local newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung criticized the organization, calling it "an interest group financing by Cease and desist (Abmahnungen)“.[8]

In February 2024 Focus online reported, that the DUH had made an offer to the lobbying group "Erdgas Mobil" in December 2016 to promote Natural gas as fuel for vehicles as part of it´s campaign against the Diesel engine. In the proposal, signed by DUH boss Jürgen Resch, Environmental Action Germany offered to mobilize it´s network of partners and asked for 2.1 million euros for the campaign, but the offer was ultimately rejected by the lobbyists.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Jan Schwartz, Maria Sheahan and Andreas Cremer (March 24, 2017), German environmental lobby sues motor authority over VW scandal Reuters.
  2. ^ Madeline Chambers and Rachel More (11 January 2023), German green group files complaint seeking shorter LNG terminal licence Reuters.
  3. ^ Anon (16 May 2024). ""Klimaklagen" der DUH erfolgreich – 18/24" [DUH's "climate lawsuits” successful – 18/24]. Pressemitteilung. Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). Berlin, Germany. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  4. ^ DUH. "Werde Klimaheld und schließ dich den Klimaklagen an!" [Become a climate hero and join the climate action!]. Deutsche Umwelthilfe eV (in German). Hannover, Germany. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  5. ^ Marggraf, Ann-Kathrin (25 June 2024). Liste Beschwerdeführende [List of complainants] (PDF) (in German). Freiburg, Germany: Deutsche Umwelthilfe eV (DUH). Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  6. ^ Egeling, Frieda (28 June 2024). "Eine 14-jährige Schülerin ist wütend auf die Regierung – und zieht vor Gericht" [A 14-year-old student is angry at the government – and takes it to court]. watson.de (in German). Berlin, Germany. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
  7. ^ "CDU und Dieselfahrverbote: Der Angriff auf die Umwelthilfe". 6 December 2018.
  8. ^ Holger Appel: Rußmord. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. March 3, 2017, retrieved Dezember 11, 2018.
  9. ^ Viehmann, Sebastian (12 January 2024). "„Diesel zurückdrängen": Umwelthilfe bot Gas-Verband für zwei Millionen Euro Kampagne an" [“Pushing back diesel": DUH offered gas association campaign for two million euros]. FOCUS online (in German). Berlin, Germany. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
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