Top automakers won’t commit to selling only zero-emission cars by 2040

The UN climate summit in Glasgow, chaired by the United Kingdom, wanted governments, manufacturers and investors to pledge “to achieve global zero-emission sales of all new cars and vans by 2040, and by 2035 at the latest in leading markets,” according to a draft statement. seen by CNN Business ahead of Wednesday’s scheduled release.

What is deeply concerning today is that major economies such as the US, Germany, China, Japan and manufacturers such as VW, Toyota and Hyundai could not even bring themselves to sign an electric vehicle statement that promises less than what is actually needed to maintain climate security.” Martin Kaiser, executive director of Greenpeace Germany, said in a statement on Wednesday.

CNN Business has reached out to all three governments for comment.

Toyota said in a statement that there was not enough time to implement such a broad policy by 2040, particularly in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, where “the environment is lacking to promote electrification.”

“As a result, we found it difficult to commit to a joint statement and have not participated in its signing at this time,” the Japanese company said in a statement.

But like Toyota, it said the 2040 deadline failed to take into account the differences in the rate at which zero-emission vehicles would be introduced around the world. It also said any accelerated shift to electric vehicles “had to be aligned with an energy transition to 100% renewables”.

“While transformation speed is critical, the pace of transformation will still vary from region to region…depending on, among other things, local political decisions that drive EV [electric vehicles] and infrastructure investments,” the statement said.

BMW also declined to sign the pledge due to what it called “significant uncertainty” about how a full global shift to zero-emission vehicles would be supported, especially in significantly different markets.

The company said it was “done now” with zero-emission technology and that its Rolls Royce and Mini brand models built from the early 2030s would be battery-powered electric vehicles only.

Stuck in the slow lane?

However, some car manufacturers are willing to support the COP initiative.

It said it was preparing for Mercedes to go all-electric “by the end of the decade, where market conditions permit.”

“In total, investment in battery-powered electric vehicles will exceed €40 billion ($46 billion) between 2022 and 2030,” a statement said.

Benjamin Stephan, energy and transportation campaigner at Greenpeace Germany, told CNN Business it was “not surprising at all” that the country’s major automakers did not agree to the COP26 pledge. its lines, in contrast to Volkswagen’s stated electric car strategy.

But he also criticized the pledge to sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2040 as a “step in the right direction, but far too slow” to meet the targets of 1.5 Celsius and net zero by 2050.

— Amy Cassidy, Mayumi Maruyama, Anna Cooban and Chris Liakos of CNN contributed to this story.