No radical turning point for the automotive industry at the 26e United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Glasgow, Scotland. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cars quickly and strongly was, however, one of the four priorities of the British Presidency (with the end of coal, the protection of forests and climate finance). Las, Wednesday 10 November, on the occasion of the transport day of COP26, a agreement has been signed between a coalition of states, car manufacturers, car fleet managers, cities and regions. But it is far from the initial ambition, contenting itself with endorsing decisions that are often already known and in limited proportions and with limited scope.
The petitioners “Will strive to ensure that all sales of new cars and vans are zero emission worldwide by 2040, and no later than 2035 in major markets”, explains the adopted text. In addition to the relatively loose wording, the agreement was only signed by a small group of six manufacturers – the Americans General Motors (GM) and Ford, the German Mercedes-Benz, the Sino-Swedish Volvo, the Indo- British Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Chinese BYD – representing barely 20% of world production (15 million vehicles out of 78 million produced in 2020).
Even more embarrassing, 32 countries join the agreement, but neither China nor the United States – the two largest car markets in the world – have affixed their signature. Also absent are important automotive nations, both as car consumers and as producers: Germany, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Spain and France.
Hybrids excluded
The only auto “heavy goods vehicles” to enter into the agreement are the UK, India, Mexico, Turkey and, to a lesser extent, Sweden. As for the European Union (EU), despite its Fit for 55 project, which aims to end the heat engine in 2035, and although a dozen member states agree to sign the agreement (including the Netherlands , Denmark and Poland), it cannot officially initial the text until the parliaments of each country have ratified the European decision, explains the press release.
The announcement is all the more pschitt since it is often content to confirm commitments already known. The signatory manufacturers had already trumpeted their intention to go all-electrified: Ford in 2040, GM in 2035, Mercedes and Volvo in 2030, and JLR in 2025. In terms of countries or regions, the United Kingdom, California, Canada, Quebec had made the same promise to exit the thermal as the one they have just kept. Not even to mention Norway, which has decided to ban the internal combustion engine from the kingdom in 2025.
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