Frankfurt, Germany – 25.000 demonstrators comprising 7,000 pedestrians and 18,000 cyclists interrupted the first open day of the International Motor Show in Frankfurt, leading to the largest mass mobilisation around the motor show in its 120+ year history, and one of the largest-ever protests against the internal combustion engine.
Supported by Greenpeace Germany and other environmental and sustainable transport NGOs, the mass bike ride and protest march called for priority for pedestrians, cyclists, and better public transport as well as an immediate phase-out of the internal combustion engine. [1] It marks a growing climate movement that will again take to the streets a week later at the global climate strike on September 20.
Greenpeace activists marched with a banner that read “Climate Emergency” to highlight the role of the car industry in driving the climate emergency that requires immediate action.
Marion Tiemann, Transport and Climate Campaigner at Greenpeace Germany said, “The theme of the motor show is ‘Driving Tomorrow’, but the only place the car industry is steering us is headfirst into a climate emergency. Today’s demonstration is just the beginning of a growing movement of people demanding a future built on sustainable transport. It is also the first step for automakers to phase out diesel and petrol cars.
According to a new report from Greenpeace, the carbon footprint of the global car industry equalled 9 percent of total annual global greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, exceeding EU greenhouse gas emissions. [2] The analysis provided a critical account of the role automakers play in fueling climate change. The report looked at the world’s 12 leading car companies and found that Volkswagen was the worst culprit — exceeding the country of Australia’s emission alone — which was followed by Renault-Nissan, Toyota, General Motors, and Hyundai-Kia as the top five most polluting automakers in the industry.
To meet the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5°C, Greenpeace is calling on all major automakers to urgently phase-out diesel and petrol cars, including hybrids, by no later than 2028. This demand is in addition to building smaller and more energy-efficient electric vehicles. Meantime, governments must also be playing their part in creating a sustainable transport future — by investing in first-rate public transport run on renewable energy and in walking and cycling infrastructure.
ENDS
Photos and videos from the event (updated throughout the day) will appear here
Notes:
[1] https://www.iaa-demo.de/english
[2] The report is a joint publication by Greenpeace East Asia (Seoul) and Greenpeace Germany.
[3] The companies’ carbon footprints are the lifecycle emissions of the cars they sold in 2018. To calculate the carbon footprint global sales data, fleet emissions data, as well as the data on production, recycling and upstream fuel emissions were used. Please see Chapter 3 of the report for more details on the methodology.
Contacts:
Lauren Reid, International Communications Lead, Clean Air Now, Greenpeace Belgium: +44 7367 074602, LReid@greenpeace.org
Benjamin Stephan, Transport and Climate Campaigner, Greenpeace Germany: +49 1577 1941527, Benjamin.Stephan@greenpeace.org
Greenpeace International Press Desk, pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org, phone: +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)
For Greenpeace International press releases, follow us on twitter @greenpeacepress
