road transport

Car manufacturers are trying to sabotage a new European climate law that would force them to improve the efficiency of their new vehicles. But there's time to act to make sure that Europe's cars are cleaner and greener in future.

The UK is baking in the summer heat - and in London, the Motor Show has started. So ask yourself, what does your car say about you?

(Warning: the video contains some mildly rude words...)

While the global suffering caused by climate change escalates every day, UK vehicles are pumping out more greenhouse gases than ever before.

CO₂ emissions from road transport are rising. Car manufacturers, unlike most other sectors, aren't legally bound to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Instead, when put under pressure to do something about their immense contribution to climate change, they agreed to voluntarily reduce emissions of the average new car by 2008.

Teams of Greenpeace volunteers took action this morning to disrupt sales of some of the most gas guzzling 4x4s on sale at Land Rover dealerships in seven major cities across the UK. The activity kicked off the first national day of action against 4x4s.

Climate change is already killing 150,000 people a year. If the government takes climate change as seriously as it says it does, Gordon Brown will tax gas-guzzlers off our roads tomorrow when he presents the budget.

Earlier today the Chancellor made a keynote speech describing climate change as an issue of justice and recoginsed that the millennium development goals cannot be met without stabilising the climate. He also declared his ambition to make British business the world leaders in environmental productivity.

More than a hundred volunteers from Greenpeace and the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s took to the streets to poll Londoners about a proposal to increase the congestion charge to £20 for gas-guzzling vehicles like 4x4s. Of the more than 5000 people randomly polled throughout London, 85 percent agreed that the Congest Charge should be higher for gas-guzzlers.