Polestar and Rivian provoke report that reveals automotive business to overshoot IPCC 1.5-degree goal by greater than 75% with out pressing motion
Polestar and Rivian have collaborated on a ‘Pathway Report‘ which concludes that the automotive business is ready to overshoot the IPCC’s 1.5-degree pathway by at the least 75% by 2050. The 2 pioneering EV makers initiated the report in response to the local weather disaster.
The report, which makes use of present, open-source information to mannequin the present trajectory for emissions stemming from the automotive business, was carried out by international administration consulting agency Kearney.
Passenger automobiles at the moment account for 15% of all greenhouse gasoline (GHG) emissions globally. The IPCC has said that each one GHG emissions have to be decreased by 43% by 2030 and the report makes clear that the automotive business is much off monitor, and, alarmingly, could have spent its full CO2e funds already by 2035 with out pressing motion.
Regardless of the gloomy outlook, the report means that the automotive business nonetheless has an opportunity to get on monitor. By redirecting sources and focus, the business can quickly construct the momentum required to stay according to the Paris Settlement. The Pathway Report focuses on the present decade and descriptions speedy, clear actions that automotive producers can take between now and 2030, together with some that may be triggered instantly.
The info presents a pathway primarily based round three key levers. Lever 1 seems on the pace at which fossil fuel-powered vehicles have to be changed by electrical vehicles however factors out that this alone is not going to be sufficient. Much more work might be required for levers 2 and three:
– Growing renewable power in energy grids
– Decreasing greenhouse gasoline emissions within the manufacturing provide chain
Pulling only one or two levers in isolation might be inadequate and solely scale back the overshoot. Collective motion from automakers is required on all three levers, in parallel, at a world stage. Firstly, the business should speed up the transition to electrical automobiles by investing in manufacturing capabilities, in addition to implementing a agency finish date for fossil gasoline automotive gross sales globally. Secondly, construct out renewable power provide to international grids that allow EV’s to achieve their full potential by way of inexperienced charging. Thirdly, decarbonise the manufacturing provide chains for these automobiles by way of switching to low carbon supplies, and investing in renewable power options for provide chains.
Fredrika Klarén, Polestar Head of Sustainability, says: “Automotive firms could also be on totally different paths relating to model, design, and enterprise methods, and a few received’t even admit that the highway to the longer term is electrical. I imagine it’s, and that the local weather disaster is a shared accountability, and we should look past tailpipe emissions. This report makes clear the significance of appearing now and collectively. There’s a transparent value to inaction, however there’s additionally a monetary alternative for innovators who discover new solutions to the challenges we face.”
Kearney’s report has additionally been shared with a number of of the world’s main automotive makers, along with an invite to a roundtable held on the finish of January to debate areas of collective motion. The purpose is to discover a path in direction of unprecedented, related and collective local weather motion for the automotive business.
Anisa Costa, Rivian’s Chief Sustainability Officer, provides: “The report’s findings are sobering. Our hope is that this report lays the groundwork for the automotive business to collaborate in driving progress on the tempo and scale we’d like – and ideally inspiring different industries to do the identical. Collectively, I’m assured we will win the race in opposition to time.”
The Pathway Report clearly reveals the price of inaction and the sturdy case for sustainable improvement. The funding neighborhood is transferring and capital flows are shifting from conventional funding to sustainable funding, recognising an growing hyperlink between sustainable transformation and monetary advantages. In 2021, international sustainability investments totalled USD 35.three trillion, representing over a 3rd of all belongings in 5 of the world’s largest markets.
Angela Hultberg, international sustainability director at Kearney, says: “We’re proud to have been chosen as a trusted knowledgeable to develop this report. The results of our modelling clearly reveals that the business must speed up the tempo of changing into a low carbon business. We checked out totally different situations, totally different information factors, and the conclusion is that regardless of the way you mannequin it, we’re far too shut for consolation. We sincerely hope this report might be a place to begin for the business to concentrate on areas the place there’s settlement and discover particular initiatives. It’ll take collective motion to unravel a few of the points at hand, and we stay up for seeing what the producers will do within the close to future.”
