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http://dx.doi.org/10.59704/9f9a3882e85091a8 https://verfassungsblog.de/milieudefensie/ Milieudefensie v ING: Climate Breakdown and Banks’ Duty of Care Simanovski, Simon eng 2024-02-01 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Bank Banks Deutschland Duty to maintain public safety Klimaabkommen von Paris (2015 Dezember 12) Netherland | O'Neill Joseph Paris Agreement Sorgfaltspflichtgesetz Verkehrssicherungspflicht climate change climate litigation duty of care Bank Deutschland Klimaabkommen von Paris (2015 Dezember 12) Netherland | O'Neill Joseph Sorgfaltspflichtgesetz Verkehrssicherungspflicht Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 There is a trend towards climate lawsuits against companies based on their alleged duty of care not to emit more than a certain amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Currently, there are four such cases before courts in Germany, all of which have been unsuccessful so far. On 19 January 2024, Milieudefensie, a Dutch environmental group, initiated legal proceedings against the Dutch Bank ING, for the first time raising the issue of whether financial actors have such a duty of care. This case represents a significant milestone in the worldwide effort to transform the financial sector and curb its seemingly endless appetite for financing fossil fuels. In light of these proceedings, I argue that the German courts have adopted an imprecise understanding of what the duty of care entails and that an appropriate application of this duty can increase the accountability of financial actors.