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In the last few days of February, a top German court decided that, in certain conditions, cities across the country could be made to enforce a driving ban for diesel cars that do not meet certain emissions standards.
It all started in Dusseldorf and Stuttgart, two cities where certain environmentalist groups, led by Environmental Action Germany (DUH), decided to go to court over the authorities' lack of decision in enforcing emission regulations. Since that moment, various parties have acted in other cities as well, and the so-called diesel ban has spread to other parts of the country.
On Tuesday, Euronews reported that a court in Berlin, Germany’s capital, has ruled in favor of forcing the city to create exclusion zones from where diesel cars that have Euro 5 or older emissions levels will be banned from entering.
Like any major city in Europe, Berlin has various emission levels it hopes of meeting. With the current state of affairs, said the judges, there are not “sufficient measures to meet annual limits for nitrogen dioxide.”
Local authorities have until March 31 next year to come up with a new clean air plan, with the diesel driving ban to be implemented after that moment, but no later than “two or three months.”
Of course, diesel driving ban sounds a lot worse than it actually is. Diesel cars are not banned per se – as in people can still buy, sell and drive them – but rather their access to certain areas of some cities is limited, provided there are Euro 5 or older.
In Berlin, these areas include 11 parts of major arteries measuring several tens of kilometers in length, a drop in the ocean compared to the total road network of the city of about 5,400 km (3,355 miles).
According to local media, cited by News24, the ban could affect as many as 200,000 cars.
On Tuesday, Euronews reported that a court in Berlin, Germany’s capital, has ruled in favor of forcing the city to create exclusion zones from where diesel cars that have Euro 5 or older emissions levels will be banned from entering.
Like any major city in Europe, Berlin has various emission levels it hopes of meeting. With the current state of affairs, said the judges, there are not “sufficient measures to meet annual limits for nitrogen dioxide.”
Local authorities have until March 31 next year to come up with a new clean air plan, with the diesel driving ban to be implemented after that moment, but no later than “two or three months.”
Of course, diesel driving ban sounds a lot worse than it actually is. Diesel cars are not banned per se – as in people can still buy, sell and drive them – but rather their access to certain areas of some cities is limited, provided there are Euro 5 or older.
In Berlin, these areas include 11 parts of major arteries measuring several tens of kilometers in length, a drop in the ocean compared to the total road network of the city of about 5,400 km (3,355 miles).
According to local media, cited by News24, the ban could affect as many as 200,000 cars.
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