Frankfurt (AFP)
Twenty Greenpeace activists on Tuesday morning denounced the air pollution generated by the NGO by large 4x4 vehicles (SUV), ubiquitous in the range of manufacturers, at the opening of the Frankfurt Motor Show.
The militants, dressed in green jackets, inflated in the back of a 4x4 a giant black balloon with the inscription "CO2". "A transport revolution without the climate killers" could be read on posters.
"The automotive industry still has not understood the climate crisis, and instead of celebrating fuel-hungry SUVs here, manufacturers have to put an end to these urban tanks and shut down the combustion engines," he said. AFP Benjamin Stephan, activist of the NGO.
Nearly one-tenth of global greenhouse gas emissions: according to a Greenpeace study, the 2018 carbon footprint of the automotive industry.
"In total, the 12 manufacturers that were screened for this report are responsible for 4.8 gigatonnes of carbon emissions," said Greenpeace in a statement released Tuesday morning.
The biggest manufacturers are logically the biggest polluters: Volkswagen comes first, ahead of Renault-Nissan, Toyota, General Motors and Hyundai-Kia. Together they account for 55% of the sector's carbon emissions, according to Greenpeace.
"We are asking this industry to change dramatically, or to be accountable to history," says the NGO.
The automotive industry, under pressure from European regulators, has begun a shift towards electric mobility, visible in Frankfurt, with a large number of new electric or hybrid (gasoline-electric) models. Significant amounts are also invested to improve the consumption of heat engines.
But, in the eyes of Greenpeace, "improving the efficiency of gasoline and hybrid vehicles are no longer sufficient solutions to the climate crisis.On the contrary, they delay the necessary fundamental changes, and the current sales growth SUV (4x4 urban, Ed) is an additional threat to our climate ".
Greenpeace Germany had already taken action this weekend against a cargo ship carrying SUVs to Bremerhaven, "Climate killer on board". "Every sale of SUV condemns us to higher CO2 emissions over its entire lifespan," said Greenpeace in its report, arguing that they emit more greenhouse gases than other types of vehicles.
© 2019 AFP