Briefing
The environmental groups NABU Hamburg and BUND called on 8 November 2026 for an immediate halt to the ongoing clearance work for the first construction section (6a) of the A26 East The trigger was the supplementary planning approval issued by Hamburg’s Department for Economic Affairs, Labour and Innovation, which, according to the groups, was granted on 30 October 2026 and provides for immediate enforcement. The groups criticise the supplementary documents submitted, saying they do not adequately quantify the effects of building over peaty soils on greenhouse gas emissions, peatland areas and species such as amphibians and birds. NABU and BUND are therefore considering bringing a fresh legal challenge to the plans.
The Federal Administrative Court had in an earlier case (decision in 2025) declared parts of the original planning approval unlawful and unenforceable, and required the planning authority to make improvements. According to DEGES and the the Department for Economic Affairs supplementary documents have now been submitted; the authorities consider the legal requirements to have been met and cite traffic-related reasons and compensatory measures. DEGES says the supplementary procedure took account of the improvements required by the court.
The legal position remains unresolved: whether a fresh legal challenge has any prospect of success depends largely on a court’s assessment of the specific supplementary documents, particularly the climate assessment of the different route options. Representatives of NABU and BUND say that potential damage to peat soils and the associated CO2 emissions must be presented transparently and in a way that can be verified through calculations before any further clearance work takes place.
The groups announced further statements in the coming days; Hamburg’s Department for Economic Affairs and DEGES indicated that preparatory work would continue. Changes to the project would only take effect through official administrative acts or court decisions. This report summarises the current state of public statements by NDR, BUND Hamburg, NABU Hamburg and DEGES, as well as official transparency documents, and corrects linguistic inaccuracies in earlier reports.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).