Greenpeace protest outside VW in Bonnevoie

(CS) Greenpeace Luxembourg parodied one of Volkswagen's advertising campaigns on Thursday morning, claiming that the automobile manufacturer was lobbying against climate protection.

Dressed as Darth Vader accompanied by several storm troopers, the activists hoisted a banner with the slogan “SOS Climate: VW destroys it” outside VW's branch in Bonnevoie.

As Greenpeace spokesperson Christophe Hebting explained to wort.lu, Volkswagen was creating an environmentally friendly image, so-called greenwashing, through cars with low emissions.

But, he continued, VW was in fact part of a large lobbying group trying to block EU legislation, which foresees the reduction of green house gasses by 20 to 30% by 2020.

Taking a jab at a VW Passat commercial featuring a young boy dressed up as the Star Wars villain, the activists want to encourage VW to quit the dark side.

While progress was being made with more environmentally friendly technologies becoming available for VW cars, the manufacturer could have a role model function in the industry if only it chose to join the light side, argued Greenpeace.