Leading Businesses Charge Ahead With Electric Vehicles to Tackle City Air Pollution – New Report

February 4, 2019 at 2:08 PM Eastern

More companies than ever are switching to electric vehicles, helping to combat air pollution in cities, lower business risk and future proof their operations as low emission zones are introduced globally.

The Climate Group’s first report on EV100, its global initiative to accelerate the market shift to electric transport by 2030, showcases the leadership of multinational companies including Ingka Group (formerly IKEA Group), Deutsche Post DHL Group and Bank of America.

To date, The Climate Group has secured the electrification of more than 2 million vehicles by 2030. The initiative now brings together 31 leading companies with a combined revenue of over half a trillion U.S. dollars.

The report covers the commitments of 23 member companies. Together, they are switching 145,000 vehicles to electric in 66 markets worldwide by 2030, saving over 6.6 million metric tons CO2e – equivalent to the carbon footprint of 1.9 million U.K. households.

Over 95 percent of these businesses cite reducing greenhouse gas emissions as a "very significant" or "significant" driver for switching, and 80 percent cite the need to tackle air pollution. A third identify financial savings as an incentive.

Helen Clarkson, CEO, The Climate Group, said: “With countries pledging to end sales of the combustion engine and cities bringing in low or zero emission zones, forward-thinking companies are getting ahead of the curve now by switching to electric vehicles.

“The private sector has an instrumental part to play in bringing down emissions and cleaning up our air – and there are big opportunities for companies taking action now.”

Since 2016, Bank of America has installed more than 100 workplace charging ports, with more planned in 2019. Charging is offered free to employees, which complements the bank’s low-carbon vehicle reimbursement program, in which nearly 10,000 employees have participated.

Alex Liftman, Global Environmental executive at Bank of America, said: “As a member of RE100 and EV100, Bank of America is extending our efforts to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and support innovation that can help us rethink how we use transportation and energy today. We are working to reduce our operational footprint, while providing programs to help our employees reduce their impacts on the environment.”

More than two dozen cities have committed to establish low emission zones by 2030 and more than a dozen countries worldwide have pledged to end sales of combustion engine vehicles by 2040 or before. Over half of them are targeting 2030 or sooner – including Denmark, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands and Costa Rica.

Air pollution is on the rise worldwide, causing 4.2 million deaths a year globally, and costing the economy US$2.6 trillion annually.

Over 70 percent of EV100 members identify lack of EV charging infrastructure as one of the biggest barriers to increased EV adoption.

EV100 is addressing this issue by driving the installation of charging points. Commitments by members will give access to EV charging to over 630,000 employees by 2030.

About EV100

EV100 is a global initiative by The Climate Group bringing together forward-looking companies committed to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), to make electric transport ‘the new normal’ by 2030. Transport accounts for approximately 23% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. Electric transport offers a major solution, as well as curbing transport related air and noise pollution. Businesses can lead through their investment decisions and influence on millions of staff and customers worldwide. By joining EV100 they increase demand, drive mass roll-out, and make electric cars more rapidly affordable for everyone.

Visit theclimategroup.org/EV100 and follow #EV100 on Twitter.

About The Climate Group

The Climate Group’s mission is to accelerate climate action to achieve a world of no more than 1.5°C of global warming and greater prosperity for all. We do this by bringing together powerful networks of business and governments that shift global markets and policies. We focus on the greatest global opportunities for change, take innovation and solutions to scale, and build ambition and pace. We are an international non-profit organization, founded in 2004, with offices in London, New Delhi and New York. We are proud to be part of the We Mean Business coalition, and lead business initiatives on electric vehicles (EV100), renewable energy (RE100), and energy productivity (EP100).

Follow us on Twitter @ClimateGroup and Facebook (TheClimateGroup).

 

Reporters may contact:

Hannah Prime, Communications Advisor
Phone: +44.791.251.4445
hprime@theclimategroup.org

Kelly Sapp, Bank of America
Phone: 1.980.386.9514
kelly.e.sapp@bofa.com

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