In pictures: Environmentalist groups and their concerns
Tens of thousands of protesters disrupted the IAA car show in Frankfurt on Saturday. The protests were organized by several environmentalist groups. DW looks at the groups, their aims and the problems they want to fight.
Joining forces: Environmental groups team up
Groups at the protest included #FridaysForFuture, an environmental protest movement started by activist Greta Thunberg. She sat outside the Swedish Parliament every day demanding the government take action on climate change. Her example soon sparked international school strikes. Other key groups in attendance were Greenpeace, cyclist-safety visibility group Critical Mass and Extinction Rebellion.
Cyclists riding for change
Critical Mass is a cyclists' environmental protest bicycle ride. It started in 1992 in San Francisco, and now Critical Mass groups are found all over the world. They organize rides in large groups that often block roads to make car drivers aware of cyclists. The Critical Mass website speaks of a "cycling culture that refuses to take a back seat to motorists."
Greenpeace: In the place where change happens
Greenpeace is a non-violent environmental activist group. The organization has set out a plan for the world to be on track by 2020 to keep global climate change below 1.5° C. Among other aims, the group hopes to tackle environmental degradation of forests and oceans.
The death of the combustion engine?
Evidence has towards the combustion engine's contribution to increasing global temperatures. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) study on car transport, commissioned by Greenpeace Belgium, concluded that to achieve a 66% likelihood of keeping global warming below 1.5°C, diesel and petrol cars must be rapidly phased out in Europe with an end to new sales by 2025.
"We can't replace our lungs"
Air pollution is another target for environmental activists. Air pollution has reached dangerous levels in many cities across the world and there is mounting research on the damage it inflicts on humans and fetuses.
An end to SUVs
According to the Greenpeace "Crashing the Climate" report into the effect of the car industry on the environment, SUVs are particularly damaging to the environment. Due to their higher weight and less aerodynamic body, SUVs produce significantly higher CO2 emissions than other cars.
Down with auto-cracy
Many protesters and environment groups think that governments have been too slow to enact meaningful change to ensure the Earth's temperature doesn't rise above the 2°C benchmark set by climate scientists.
Protesters gathered outside the International Motor Show Germany (IAA) in Frankfurt on Saturday to demand an overhaul of transport policy. Tens of thousands are said to have attended. The demonstrations were coordinated by environmental activist groups such as Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion and Critical Mass.