A group of countries, companies and cities committed on November 10, 2021, in Glasgow, to phasing out fossil-fuel vehicles by 2040, to cut carbon emissions and curb global warming. But the world’s top two carmakers, Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG, and major car markets China, the United States and Germany, did not sign up, highlighting the challenges in shifting to zero emissions.
The Glasgow Declaration on Zero Emission Cars and Vans, unveiled at the climate talks in the Scottish city, sees the groups pledge to rapidly accelerate the transition to low-carbon emission vehicles, aiming to green leading markets by 2035.
Headline signatories included Ford (F.N) and General Motors (GM.N), the world’s second-most populous country India, and major corporate purchasers of vehicles including Leaseplan, which rents 1.7 million cars in 30 countries.
Martin Kaiser, Executive Director of Greenpeace, Germany, said the absence of major economies and producers was gravely concerning. “To stop new fossil fuels, we need to cut off our dependency,” he said. That means moving on from combustion engines towards electric vehicles and creating clean public transport networks without delay.”
Cars, trucks, ships, buses and planes account for about a quarter of all global carbon emissions, data from the International Energy Agency showed, mostly from road vehicles.
Others who did sign up included Sweden’s Volvo Cars, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, China’s BYD Co Ltd., and Jaguar Land Rover, a unit of India’s Tata Motors Ltd.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/
