Saturday, October 5, 2024
Electric VehiclesLatestNews

Climate Group launches EV100+ initiative with companies committing to decarbonising heavy trucks

Five globally recognised businesses – IKEA, Unilever, JSW Steel Limited, A.P. Moller – Maersk and GeoPost/DPDgroup – have committed to transition their medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs) to zero emission by 2040 in OECD markets, China and India.  

The companies are the founding members of the Climate Group’s new EV100+ initiative, which has been launched at this year’s Climate Week NYC and aims to phase out the heaviest and most polluting vehicles on today’s roads.  

Representing just 4% of all vehicles on the road globally, MHDVs account for 40% of all road transport emissions and a third of total transport fuel use. These vehicles produced over 5% of total global CO2 emissions in 2019, predicted to increase to over 11% by 2050 if steps to decarbonise are not taken. 

To achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement, heavy-duty road transport must be completely decarbonised. With advances in technology making it possible, all new trucks sold in the world’s major markets must be zero emission by 2040.  

Sandra Roling, Director of Transport at Climate Group, commented: “We’re very excited to launch EV100+ at this year’s Climate Week NYC. It’s a great demonstration of leadership from the founding members. MHDVs represent the final frontier of zero emission road transportation, and EV100+ will tackle the heaviest, most polluting vehicles on our roads around the world.”

EV100+ builds on the success of Climate Group’s global EV100 initiative, launched in 2017 and now celebrating its fifth anniversary, which brings together companies committed to making electric transport the new normal by 2030.  

In five years, EV100 has grown to a group of over 120 businesses right across the globe, committing over 5.5 million vehicles to electric by 2030.  

Roling added: “We’ve seen over the last five years how EV100 has acted as a powerful catalyst for change across light-duty vehicle fleets. Now it’s time for EV100+ to drive this change across global MHDV fleets as well – businesses are willing to lead this change.” 

EV100+’s founding members are helping to drive demand for zero emission MHDVs from manufacturers and supporting governments in implementing policies that encourage their adoption at the speed and scale needed. 

Elisabeth Munck af Rosenschöld, IKEA Supply Chain Operations Manager, added: “Key to accelerating the deployment of zero-emission trucks is to collaborate across the transport industry with confidence and clarity on the direction. The electrification of transport plays a big role in phasing out fossil fuels in the IKEA supply chain. We are joining EV100+ to magnify the movement toward sustainable transportation. It is urgent and doable.” 

Morten Bo Christiansen, SVP, Head of Decarbonisation, A.P. Moller – Maersk, said:  “We are thrilled to be one of the founding members of Climate Group’s new EV100+ initiative alongside other leading businesses. In A.P. Moller – Maersk, we are committed to transition our entire business to net zero emissions by 2040 –  including our landside business. This initiative sends a powerful message to customers, partners, and manufacturers that we believe the future of our global medium- and heavy-duty fleet is net zero emissions.” 

Sanjay Rath, Executive Vice President – Commercial and Purchase, JSW Steel Limited, stated: “By joining EV100+ initiative as a founding member, we at JSW Steel advance our commitment to support India’s net zero goal.  JSW Steel has an ambitious target of reducing its carbon emission by 42% (versus base year 2005) by FY30. We are currently on the journey towards achieving the target through a strategic climate action agenda and various steps in our operations. Through this commitment we would want to decarbonise our freight operations by transitioning the fleet (in heavier segments > 7.5t) to Electric Vehicles or alternatives, thus allowing our unrelenting desire to become Better Everyday.”  

Michelle Grose, VP, Global Logistics and Fulfilment, Unilever, adds: “Unilever has set the goal of achieving net zero emissions across our value chain by 2039, and logistics is a key area of focus since it accounts for 15% of our total footprint. In recent years we’ve made big strides on CO2 savings by improving efficiency and reducing the number of trucks on the road. Now, alongside our EV100+ partners we’ll be sending a powerful signal to governments, manufacturers and the wider industry that the future of global medium- and heavy-duty road transport is electric, and we hope to inspire other companies to join us.” 

Jean-Claude Sonet, Executive Vice President in charge of Marketing, Communication and Sustainability at GeoPost/DPDgroup, says: “We are committed to sustainable delivery and have set ourselves a bold ambition to reach net zero by 2040. Yet success will depend on our ability to transition our medium- and heavy-goods vehicles to zero tailpipe emissions by 2040. All sectors must work together if society is to be meet global climate goals. We are therefore excited to work alongside other like-minded businesses to send a powerful message to both governments and manufacturers that we believe the future of trucking is zero emission.” 

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Sign up for our essential
newsletter service.

Enter your details here.