German Court Halts A26 Ost Autobahn Over Climate Concerns

The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig has declared the plan approval decision for the A26 Ost autobahn through Hamburg's south 'illegal and unenforceable'. The ruling, a novelty in German jurisprudence, highlights insufficient consideration of climate change impacts during the planning process.

The Hamburg CDU has expressed concerns about the economic location of Hamburg and the relief of traffic in the city center and south due to the ruling. The court found that the chosen variant, Süd1, requires the removal of around 18.5 hectares of 'high-quality soils', mainly low moor soils, which store CO2 and could release it if mined.

The court argues that the planners should have examined various route variants and their effects on legal climate goals. Instead, they claimed that the chosen route already had a positive effect on climate change. The court suggests that other variants could have a more positive balance in terms of climate protection.

The A26 Ost is justified by improving the accessibility of the Hamburg port and relieving residents of the district of Wilhelmsburg from truck traffic. However, critics question the project's cost-benefit ratio. A study commissioned by the Federal Ministry for the Environment raised doubts about this ratio, although it is not explicitly named in the provided search results.

The red-green Senate has stressed that the autobahn is not off the table with the ruling. Further routes need to be examined retroactively in a supplementary procedure. The court's decision sets a precedent for climate change considerations in infrastructure planning, potentially influencing future projects.