Climate Group‘s EV100+ initiative signed Transport and Environment’s letter, alongside 38 other eminent NGO’s, calling on the European Commission to ensure that all new trucks sold are zero emission by 2035 at the latest.
Trucks represent just 2% of vehicles on EU roads, but account for more than a quarter of road transport emissions, and that number is continuing to rise. Heavy duty road transportation is also one of the largest sources of air pollution, which the European Environment Agency estimates to cause 350,000 premature deaths per year in the EU. And according to Transport and Environment, on-road testing shows that even some of the newest trucks on Europe’s roads are exceeding the EU’s legal emission limits.
The European Commission has an opportunity to revise the CO2 standards for new heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) and set trucks on a future-proof path to zero emissions. Without policy action, trucks would eat up as much as 37% of the EU’s shrinking carbon budget by 2050.
The time to set an end date for diesel trucks is now, requiring an ambitious midterm target of at least 65% in 2030 to be ready in time. EV100+, and the 39 signatories of this letter represent people in more than 14 European countries, all calling on the Commission to ensure that all new trucks are zero emission by 2035 at the latest.
You can read the full letter here
