Several major companies, including Ikea and Nestlé, have joined forces and have asked the European Union to create new legislation to drastically limit trucks’ emissions, in order to meet the goals signed at the Paris climate conference.
Letter to EU president
European trucking is only 5 % of all traffic, but creates about 25 % of all carbon emissions, which means they are even more damaging to the environment than airplanes. One of the major issues is fuel’s limited efficiency, barely improved over the past 20 years.
That is why these companies have sent a letter to EU president, Jean-Claude Juncker, asking him to demand more from the transport industry, because otherwise, the goals will not be reached at all. Not only Nestlé and Ikea, but also companies like DHL, Kingfisher, Philips and Heathrow Airport have signed the letter.
Europa promised to lower its emissions 40 % by 2030, but in order to succeed, the transport industry will have to undergo huge changes. In the 1990 – 2010 timeframe, trucks’ emissions have grown 36 % and if there is no new legislation, estimations are that emissions will only start dropping by 2050.