At the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) on Wednesday, India, the world’s fourth largest auto market, committed to accelerating the transition to zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) in its markets alongside Rwanda, Kenya.
Besides, 30 countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico, and six major automakers – among them Ford, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors and Volvo – pledged to work together to make zero-emissions vehicles the new normal by making zero-emissions vehicles accessible, affordable and sustainable in all regions by 2030 or earlier.
This represents a major boost for vehicles that emit zero emissions that harm the climate and public health.
Also at COP26, 20 airline members of the World Economic Forum’s Target True Zero initiative committed to using new technologies, such as electric, hydrogen and hybrid aircraft, to meet the challenge of climate change.
And the launch of a new World Bank trust fund that will mobilize $200 million over the next 10 years to decarbonize road transport in emerging market and developing economies.
This goal is to direct the Zero Emissions Vehicle Transmission Council (ZEVTC), which met with prominent representatives, including experts on transition in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs), and discussed how international collaboration can support global transformation.
ZEVTC will launch its first annual Action Plan, which outlines areas for sustainable international cooperation to accelerate the transition through 2022. The United States on Wednesday joined the United Kingdom as co-chair of the ZEVTC.
Responding to the commitment to clean vehicles, Jake Schmidt, Senior Director of International Climate Strategy for the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), said, “This welcome move signals that a growing number of countries, automakers and transportation service providers are joining the world. Pay 100 percent of electric vehicles are zero-emissions.
“Now, more major players, particularly other countries with large numbers of vehicles on the road, must sign up. By transitioning to fully electric vehicles, we can create jobs and significantly reduce the pollution that is adding to the climate crisis, and we are back in the corner to a cleaner future.
According to the Glasgow Convention on Zero Emission Vehicles, which has been signed by more than 100 parties, including countries, global automakers, cities, regions and fleet owners, this is the beginning of the end of the road for petrol and diesel vehicles, which will be phased out and replaced with zero-emissions vehicles by 2035 in key markets.
The consequences of advertising are great. These commitments mean that the signatories to the agreement make up nearly 15 percent of the global auto market, or 11.5 million vehicles. Combined with other countries and regions that have also announced ICE phase-out dates, most notably the European Union, that share rises to more than one in nearly every three of global car sales.
Mayors of some of the world’s leading cities, union leaders, transport workers, transport authorities, and civil society united at COP26 to call on the world’s governments to prioritize long-term sustainable investment in public transport or the risks of climate collapse.
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