Grand coalition presents agreement in diesel conflict but environmental NGOs critical

Germany’s coalition government has reached an agreement to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from diesel cars in German cities. Transport minister Andreas Scheuer and environment minister Svenja Schulze called the deal “a very large step” to improve air quality, avoid driving bans, and secure the future of the diesel. Diesel drivers in polluted cities will be offered incentives by carmakers to trade in their older vehicle against a newer model or a hardware retrofit. The ministers said they “expected” carmakers to foot the bill, but added they had not yet reached firm agreements with the companies. The government also agreed to step up the retrofitting of municipal bus and lorry fleets and commercial vans.
Environmental NGOs were critical of the agreement. Environmental Action Germany (DUH), which got the ball rolling on driving bans by suing polluted cities, said Chancellor Angela Merkel had once again carved into pressure from the car industry. The Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) said the government should have forced carmakers to wide-ranging retrofits if citizens’ health was its primary concern.

Please note: The Clean Energy Wire will publish an article on this topic later today.

Find the government press release in German here.

Get background on the diesel story in the CLEW factsheet "Dieselgate" - a timeline of Germany's car emissions fraud scandal.