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Summary
- On the very first day of the Climate Week NYC, major climate commitments and messages were delivered
- Tesco Plc, the UK’s biggest supermarket chain joining the UK Electric Fleets Coalition, a group of now 27 big corporates
- The company has also joined the EV100 initiative, which now includes 86 businesses, committed to switch over 4.8 million vehicles across the world to zero emissions
It’s the Climate Week NYC (September 21 to 27) taking place in coordination with the UN (United Nations) and the City of New York that has drawn the attention of everyone whether it be individuals, businesses, governments, academic institutions or the non-profit organisations. On the very first day of the summit, hope about building a better future and achieving a green recovery post-pandemic along with major climate commitments and messages were delivered.
There is a buzz created by the UK’s biggest supermarket chain joining the UK Electric Fleets Coalition, a group of now 27 big corporates, publicly asking the UK Government to target 100 per cent zero- emission car and van sales from 2030.
First let us have a background of this demand of zero emission car and van sales from 2030, actually, the UK Government had initially introduced the ban on new petrol and diesel car sales with a 2040 deadline. It was during the regime of Theresa May, however, with growing call and criticism from the green groups and the government within, the present Prime Minister Boris Johnson moved in this February to lower the deadline to 2035. Committee on Climate Change (CCC) in its initial recommendation had stated that by 2035 at the latest all new cars and vans should be electric or should be using a low carbon alternative such as hydrogen.
It had also said that, if possible, an earlier switchover would be desirable, helping to reduce the cost for motorists as well as and improving the air quality.
What is Electric Fleets Coalition?
Convened by The Climate Group the UK Electric Fleets Coalition, has the BT Group - including Openreach as its founding member. Now it consists of 27 members working with an ambitious target around electrifying their own road transport offerings.
Transport has been termed as country’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, with roadside air pollution leading to thousands of untimely deaths every year in the country. The members of Electric Fleets Coalition had pledged to source more than 400,000 low or zero-emission vehicles and are already working to electrify them through the Climate Group’s global EV100 campaign.
Aside from knowledge sharing and encouraging other businesses to go all-in on electric vehicles (EVs), the motive of the Coalition is also to involve officials to ensure that legislation is supporting a national transition to low-carbon road transportation. Its principal policy endorsement is that by the end of 2020, the UK’s ban on new petrol and diesel car sales is brought forward to 2030.
Apart from Tesco, other major businesses which have joined the group include Dixons Carphone, SSE, Heathrow, E.ON.
The coalition is calling for policy support to unlock further private sector investment in rapid charging networks and has asked the government to boost charging points and supply of electric vehicles. Another demand of the coalition to the Government is that it should provide long-term certainty on financial incentive schemes for Electrical Vehicles (EVs), keeping the businesses and individuals at par.
Tesco And Its latest Green Initiatives
Tesco has not only joined the call to ban on new petrol and diesel car sales forward to 2030 but has also announced joining the EV100 initiative, which now includes 86 businesses. All together, these businesses are committed to switch over 4.8 million vehicles across the world to zero emissions and would be coming up with an annual report on their progress.
In words of Giles Bolton, Tesco’s Responsible Sourcing Director
Tesco's new green initiatives are undoubtedly going a long way and have complemented its plans to transition to 100 per cent electric vans and to roll out EV charging infrastructure across its UK stores. However, its stocks were not seeming to get much encouragement with the initiative and were down by 0.62 per cent, trading at GBX 224.50 (GMT+16:28 PM). The stock has given a negative return of 11.69 on a YTD basis.
(Source- EODHD/Others, Thomson Reuters)
