Tesla has been ordered to stop the felling of trees that it was undertaking for the development of its upcoming Gigafactory in Berlin. The American electric car maker was ordered to stop by the German court on the basis of a complaint put forth by a local environmentalist group.
The complaint was submitted by Gruene Liga Brandenburg (Green League of Brandenburg) and the court was quick to temporarily shut down the land clearing operations. As Reuters reports, the court gave the ruling immediately as it would've taken only 3 more days to complete the work of tree-felling.
Tesla has three factories in the world at the moment; two in the US and one in Shanghai. The plans for the new Gigafactory in Berlin were announced back in November last year by Tesla CEO Elon Musk at an event in Germany.
The court said in a statement: “It should not be assumed that the motion seeking legal protection brought by the Green League lacks any chance of succeeding.”
esla has bought 300 hectares of land to build the Gigafactory. For the project, the state environmental office of Berlin and Brandenburg has allowed Tesla to clear 92 hectares of forest land. But the company has not received planning permission for the Gigafactory.It has only got the green light to begin site preparations "at its own risk".
In the wake of this order by the German court, pro-business lawmakers have warned that a legal battle against the Tesla Gigafactory could hamper Germany's image as being an ideal place to conduct business.
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