BERLIN, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The non-governmental organization Greenpeace on Wednesday criticized driving diesel bans imposed recently in the German city of Hamburg as being a merely symbolic measure.
Speaking to the press, Greenpeace spokesperson Niklas Schinerl praised the "first tentative attempts" by a municipal government to protect its citizens from "poisonous diesel emissions." Nevertheless, Schinerl complained that Hamburg's "purely symbolic policy" was still insufficient to effectively address issues of urban air pollution.
Hamburg recently became the first German city to enact a partial diesel driving ban. Vehicles with a motor type older than the latest "Euro6" standard have since been barred from accessing designated stretches of two roads in the Altona-Nord district.
Municipal authorities are hereby making use of new powers granted by a recent landmark court ruling of the Federal Administrative Court which enabled them to impose diesel driving bans unilaterally as a means to lower urban nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.
While the ban applies to passenger vehicles and trucks alike on the "Max-Brauer Street", only older diesel trucks will be prevented from accessing a second designated area on "Streseman Street". Ambulances, residents, garbage trucks, delivery vehicles and taxis collecting or delivering passengers on the streets in question are excluded from the measure regardless of their diesel motor type.
Schinerl attacked the resulting piecemeal nature of the measures, arguing that "making a few hundred meters of road slightly less dirty" would not lower overall NOx pollution in Hamburg. Policymakers would have to commit to lowering the number of cars in inner city areas more generally, for example by promoting public transportation and cycling, to ensure that Hamburg complied fully with European Union (EU) clean air regulations.
German transport minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) recently vowed that the government would take immediate measures to lower NOx emissions in cities to levels compatible with EU clean air regulations. Berlin is currently being sued by the EU commission for repeatedly failing to fulfil related standards and could face fines if found guilty.
