VW

This week the European Commission published a new draft proposal on car efficiency for 2020. They agreed to stick with their original target but have missed a chance to go further towards getting us off our oil addiction.

With fuel prices at record levels and predicted to keep rising, you’d think that new European proposals to stem drivers’ costs and reduce emissions would be welcomed by all. But major car companies like VW are opposing these laws – so today we released a new report detailing how increasing efficiency will benefit both the public and the climate.

For several months, our intrepid active supporters Jedis have been out in force, persuading thousands of members of the public to sign VW Darkside cards - which we've been sending through to the top brass at the VW's headquarters in Milton Keynes, and to their biggest dealerships.

For almost a year now, you’ve been asking VW to turn away from the dark side and reduce its fleet’s CO2 emissions. Today we took that message to the company’s AGM in Hamburg with a giant banner reading "Take responsibility seriously! Honest climate protection now" (in German, obviously).

This morning, two activists in Germany climbed the towering VW office building, dropped a banner reading “CO2 - Das Problem”, demonstrating that VW’s boss needs to show more responsibility when it comes to climate change. The climbers were removed, but another Greenpeace activist has since managed to paraglide around the tower - sending the message that the rebellion will continue until VW commits to real climate protection.