Page 7 - AsiaElec Week 45 2021

AsiaElec ELECTRIC VEHICLES AsiaElec

23 countries make zero-

emissions vehicle pledge

ASIA NOVEMBER 10 was Transport Day at COP26 compared to 1990 levels. However, the package
in Scotland, and parts of the automotive industry projects just a 4% emissions reduction for HGVs
had pledged to end the sale of petrol and diesel between 2019-30.
cars and vans by 2035 in leading markets and by On the other hand, a number of US cities
2040 across the globe. such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City and
The new targets aim to accelerate the transi- San Francisco did sign up.
tion to zero-emission vehicles in a bid to achieve Volvo, Mercedes, Jaguar Land Rover, General
the goals of the Paris Agreement. Motors and Ford all signed, but not Volkswagen,
A key issue is the difference between devel- Honda or Toyota.
oped and developing economies. Developing On the same day, the World Bank launched
governments called on developed countries to a trust fund that will mobilise $200mn over the
strengthen the collaboration and international next 10 years to decarbonise road transport in
support offer to facilitate a global, equitable and emerging markets and developing economies.
just transition. Meanwhile, the Zero Emission Vehicle Tran-
The deal was also signed by local and regional sition Council (ZEVTC), co-chaired by the US
authorities and automotive companies and and UK, set out a plan to hasten the transition to
investors. Measures to be taken include making zero-emission vehicles.
all municipal car and van fleets zero emissions by The UK also pledged to shift to clean trucks
2035, while private business fleet owners com- by committing to end the sale of most new diesel
mitted to a target date of 2030 for zero-emission trucks between 2035 and 2040.
vehicles (ZEVs). Greenpeace was highly critical of the deal, not
Investors also committed to enabling 100% least because of the lack of support from major
zero-emission car and van sales by 2035. government and automotive manufacturers.
The agreement also calls for zero-emission “Transport is one of the biggest causes of
vehicles the new normal by making them acces- global fossil fuel emissions. To keep the goal of
sible, affordable and sustainable in all regions by 1.5 alive, the final text agreed at Glasgow must
2030. commit to phasing out new oil, but we won’t
How this will be done requires a wholesale get there if our economies stay stuck in the past,
restructuring of the global automotive sector. reliant on pumping cars and trucks full of fossil
The agreements called for sector players to fuels.
work together to overcome strategic, political “What’s gravely concerning today is that
and technical barriers, accelerate the produc- major economies like the US, Germany, China,
tion of zero-emission vehicles and increase Japan and manufacturers like VW, Toyota and
economies of scale, to make the transition faster, Hyundai could not even bring themselves to sign
lower-cost and easier for everyone. a declaration on electric vehicles that promises
The agreement was signed by some major less than what’s actually required to maintain
governments, such as the UK, India, Mexico, bur climate security,” said Martin Kaiser, executive
crucially not the US, Germany, Japan, Russia or director of Greenpeace Germany.
China. Meanwhile, 19 governments have also stated
This will substantially weaken the deal and their intention to support the establishment of
inhibit its ability to achieve major CO2 emission green shipping corridors – zero-emission ship-
reductions. ping routes between two ports.
Indeed, the transport sector, especially heavy This will involve deploying zero-emission
goods vehicles, will be particularly difficult to vessel technologies and putting alternative fuel
decarbonise. and charging infrastructure in place in ports to
The EU’s Fit for 55 package, published in July allow for zero-emission shipping on key routes
2021, aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) across the globe.™
emissions across the EU by 55% by 2030,

Week 45 10•November•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7