Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH and lobbying): Where do the 1.5 million euros in donations come from?
Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), a non-profit organisation for environmental protection, also known for environmental zones and diesel driving bans, is being criticised: it refuses to disclose 15 large donations with a total value of over one million euros. The media company Table.Media discovered this in the lobby register of the German Bundestag. But what does this mean for DUH's credibility? What is the actual aim of its work?
DUH received a total of 17 donations and gifts totalling more than 20,000 euros each in 2021. The donors were only named in two cases. DUH remains silent about the other 15 large donations totalling 1.5 million euros. It refuses to be transparent and provides no information about the donors. In doing so, it is violating the demands of the Alliance for Lobby Transparency, whose members include the Federation of German Consumer Organisations and Transparency International.
The alliance emphasises that the origin of financial resources should always be transparent; exceptions are only conceivable in individual cases involving private individuals. Organisations or companies should always disclose who is funding them. However, DUH admits that it has not disclosed its donors. It justifies this by stating that donors can only be named if they are authorised to do so.
But who are these anonymous donors? Are they companies or organisations that might have an interest in influencing DUH's political agenda? DUH has already shown in the past that it is open to lobbying. In 2016, it offered a gas lobby association a campaign for around two million euros with the aim, among other things, of "pushing back diesel".
But what is the real purpose of her work? Does it really represent environmental protection and the interests of citizens? Or is it just another player in the dirty game of lobbying, hiding its true goals behind a façade of environmental protection?
The organisation is repeatedly criticised, not only for its lack of transparency with regard to large donations. It is also known for taking legal action against companies and local authorities to enforce environmental regulations. This has earned it a reputation as an "environmental litigation organisation". Some critics accuse it of focussing more on legal battles than on practical environmental protection.
DUH urgently needs to improve its transparency and disclose all major donations. This is the only way it can regain the public's trust and show that it really does represent environmental protection and not the interests of anonymous major donors. Until then, a dark shadow will remain on the otherwise green façade of Deutsche Umwelthilfe.