Volkswagen

Volkswagen is excluded under climate policy criteria, which applies to companies that actively obstruct climate policy, misrepresent climate science, or set misleading climate targets. As a major global automaker, the company’s product portfolio and corporate strategy have significant implications for transportation emissions. A thorough review of its climate lobbying, target integrity, and policy engagement is required to document the specific conduct underlying this exclusion. Current evidence is insufficient to detail the precise incidents, lobbying activities, or misrepresentations that triggered this record.

Volkswagen is excluded for documented environmental damage. The company's operations and products have been linked to significant ecological harm, most notably through the 2015 Dieselgate scandal where Volkswagen installed illegal software in millions of diesel vehicles to cheat on emissions tests. This deliberate deception resulted in vehicles emitting up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxides, a major air pollutant linked to respiratory illness and environmental damage.

Beyond this systemic misconduct, Volkswagen's global manufacturing footprint and complex supply chains carry inherent risks for toxic contamination, habitat destruction, and other environmental impacts. A thorough review of recent enforcement records, remediation sites, and supply chain audits is required to detail the current scale and materiality of Volkswagen's environmental damage.

DOJ criminal and civil settlement for Clean Air Act violations using defeat device software to falsify diesel emissions test results across ~500,000 US vehicles (Dieselgate); $4.3B total criminal and civil penalties including $2.8B criminal fine; pled guilty to conspiracy, fraud, and violation of the CAA; one of the largest CAA criminal fines in US history; additional $14.7B civil settlement with vehicle owners