Times are changing, climate change is only getting more severe as years go by, and the need to “go green” has never been more serious. While virtually any industry is implementing environmentally friendly changes in one form or another, they often lack sufficient funding to implement the greener solutions on a large scale. In the automotive industry, electric and low-emission vehicles are seemingly on the rise, but we’re still far away from the technology being global and widely available. In order to accelerate the transformation, The Climate Group, in collaboration with Global Climate Action Summit, Formula E, and C40 Cities have decided to launch a “Zero Emission Vehicle Challenge”.
It is time to talk about the endgame for the combustion engine and speed up the move from vehicles whose emissions pose health risks and a growing contribution to climate change. We want automotive companies to do more to help us get there. – said Helen Clarkson, CEO of The Climate Group.
In hopes to reach car makers across the world, the ZEV challenge wants to urge cities and international businesses to promote the zero emission movement through the use of their purchasing and policy influence. The proposed changes are meant to convince global car manufacturers to not only accelerate the research and development of their zero emission vehicle production, but also size up manufacturing in order to satisfy the growing demand for the environmentally-friendly methods of transportation.
So far, the Challenge is being supported by cities such as London, New York, Rome, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, Milan, Mexico City, and Navarra, and by corporations including Unilever, LeasePlan, and EDF Energy. When asked about their motivation to aid the program, LeasePlan’s CEO Tex Gunning said: Although we’re seeing the appetite for EVs rise every day, the vehicles, infrastructure or policies to meet this demand aren’t there yet. We’re therefore delighted to join the Global ZEV Challenge and work with the industry to make zero emission mobility a reality. Starting electric can be one of the easiest ways to tackle climate change, but only if everyone rises to the ZEV Challenge.
We can only hope that the trend reaches the CEE region in full force, in a zero-emission way! To find out more about the Zero Emission Vehicle Challenge, feel free to check out The Climate Group’s website.
