Germany to keep hearing VW case

BERLIN — Environmentalists claimed a small legal victory Friday after a court in Germany said it would continue hearing a case brought by a farmer seeking to force automaker Volkswagen to end the sale of combustion engine vehicles.

Ulf Allhoff-Cramer, 62, says drier soil and heavier rains due to climate change are harming his fields, cattle and commercial forests. He argues that Volkswagen is partly to blame for this, as the mass production of vehicles running on gasoline contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.

The automaker has objected to the farmer’s claim that it can be directly linked to any climate-related damages he has suffered and said it was confident that judges would eventually dismiss the case.