Get In The Car

One of the main issues addressed during the recent COP26 climate change summit was the issue of auto emissions.  A major effort is underway to get automakers to pledge to make environmentally friendlier cars - especially electric ones.

The efforts to do so are producing mixed results.  At least twenty-four advanced countries have pledged to, according to the COP26 declaration from Glasgow, "work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets."  The United States - the land of big mothertruckin' SUVs and pickups - did not join in on the pledge, but notably, neither did Germany, Japan, South Korea or the biggest carbon emitter of all, China.  The Germans don't like the proposed ban on synthetic fuels, and the Chinese apparently don't want to undermine their own auto market. 

Among the companies refusing to pledge to make more environmentally friendly cars are Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai. Despite its commitment to electric vehicles, VW, despite new zero-emission vehicles like the ID.4 (above), said it couldn't commit to global automotive electrification because of the differences in pace of providing the infrastructure for electric cars in different parts of the world, with some countries achieving it more slowly than others.  Toyota pretty much concurred, saying it didn't expect all of the countries of the world to adopt zero-emission vehicles by 2040. 

On the other hand, Ford, Volvo, BYD Auto, Jaguar Land Rover and Daimler have all made the pledge, as has General Motors, which used to own Opel.  However, Stellantis - which now owns Opel, as well as Peugeot, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and the Chrysler Group - has not.

It all comes down to one simple word - "piecemeal."  The global auto industry and the countries that sustain it are taking full measures in some parts of the world and partial measure in others to make cleaner, more environmentally friendly vehicles rather than commit to a single, solitary plan for everyone.  That is a mistake, because despite having a dozen major automakers selling cars in two hundred countries, we are one planet and we need a plan to make clean cars for the world.  After all, we haven't had a universal plan to fight the COVID pandemic, and look how that's turned out.    

Sad.