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Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) v. Stralsund Mining Authority - complaint

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Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) v. Stralsund Mining Authority - press release

Filing Year For Action

On July 27, 2020, environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH; Environmental Action Germany) filed an action against the Stralsund Mining Authority in the supreme administrative court of the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. DUH sought reconsideration of the Authority's January 2018 decision to issue a permit for Russian-owned Gazprom's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. DUH asked the court to oblige the Authority to review the permit in the context of related (direct and indirect) methane emissions, arguing that a significant upward revision of estimated methane emissions from gas production and transportation has occurred since the permit was first granted in January 2018. Alternatively, DUH requested that the court suspend the permit and refer the case to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling regarding compliance with the European precautionary principle.

On November 16, 2021, the court ruled the DUH complaint against the Stralsund Mining Authority partly inadmissible, partly unsubstantiated. According to the court, DUH lacked the necessary legal protection with regard to the offshore pipeline running in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany and the onshore facilities in Lubmin, as well as the offshore pipeline, rendering the complaint inadmissible on these points. In the preliminary stages, the plant, which had not yet started operating, had already been tested for gas tightness in accordance with the technical safety regulations. With regard to the associated Russian gas infrastructure on land, the court found the complaint admissible but unfounded. According to the court, the planning approval decision had assessed the environmental impacts as a whole, in particular methane emissions, and had not left them to a later decision.

Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) v. Stralsund Mining Authority

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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.

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

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

A potent, short-lived greehouse gas, largely released from livestock, fossil fuel extraction and waste management.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) v. Stralsund Mining Authority - complaint

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance