35 companies, including Colruyt, Carrefour and Ikea have asked Europe to force truck manufacturers to lower their emissions 25 % by 2025. “Totally unrealistic”, the manufacturers’ spokesperson said.
Carbon emission standard coming
Within a month of the European Commission’s first carbon emission standard for trucks, 35 major players in the broader transport industry have written a letter to the Commission. Multinationals like Ikea, Carrefour, Nestlé and Unilever and local companies like Colruyt and transportation companies backed by Febetra (Belgian industry federation of transportation companies) have asked to lower carbon emissions 24 % compared to the level in 2019.
European trade federation ACEA spoke on behalf of the truck industry and said it has no issue with a carbon emission standard “as long as it is realistic”. It proposes a 16 % drop between 2019 and 2030, with a 7 % target by 2025. “That is rather challenging considering the limited time frame, especially considering we are already manufacturing vehicles that will be sold in 2025”, ACEA added.
NGO Transport & Environment, who thought of the initiative, dismisses the industry’s proposal as “totally unacceptable”. T&E says that would basically keep things as the same level as it is now. The NGO also points out that the transport industry is “Europe’s largest climate issue”, taking up 27 % of the total carbon emissions. Trucks by themselves are responsible for 25 % of those carbon emissions.
