The Regional Court of Munich I (Landgericht München I) issued a recognition judgment (Anerkenntnisurteil) following an action brought by the German Environmental Action (Deutsche Umwelthilfe, DUH) against McDonald’s. The case concerned McDonald’s advertising of a commitment to become “climate neutral” by 2050, including its supply chain.

McDonald’s had promoted the 2050 target on its website but, according to the DUH, provided only vague and insufficient information about how the target would be achieved. The information did not set out a sufficiently concrete implementation strategy, including adequate measures for achieving the claimed future climate neutrality.

After receiving a formal warning from DUH, McDonald’s amended the advertising but did not issue a cease-and-desist declaration. DUH subsequently brought proceedings, which McDonald’s acknowledged. In June 2026, the court consequently issued an Anerkenntnisurteil, prohibiting McDonald’s from making the challenged 2050 climate-neutrality claim without sufficient and substantiated explanation of how the target would be achieved.

DUH v. McDonald’s

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives