So far, the alliance includes 24 countries, six major car manufacturers, as well as several cities and investors. It is still unclear whether Germany will sign the declaration. The outgoing Transport Minister Scheuer (CSU) had rejected the move.
Two dozen countries want to set an end date for cars with internal combustion engines at the world climate conference in Glasgow. So far, the alliance includes 24 countries, six major car manufacturers and some cities and investors, as the British host of the climate summit announced on Wednesday. There was no detailed information about the signatories in advance.
The participating governments want to “work towards ensuring that all sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles are emission-free by 2040 worldwide and in leading markets by 2035 at the latest”. The car companies should therefore strive to sell only emission-free cars and vans in leading markets by 2035 at the latest. On the manufacturer side, the signatories include Mercedes-Benz, the Swedish manufacturer Volvo, the Chinese BYD and Jaguar Land Rover, a unit of the Indian Tata Motors as well as the US automakers Ford and General Motors.
The two leading global automobile manufacturers Volkswagen and Toyota apparently do not want to sign the commitment. The world’s fourth largest automobile manufacturer, Stellantis, is also missing, as are the Japanese automobile manufacturers Honda and Nissan, and the Korean company Hyundai. Even the German car manufacturer BMW does not seem to want to join the commitment.
It was still unclear in the evening whether Germany would sign the declaration. The Ministry of the Environment said that the federal government has not yet made a final decision. The negotiators at the climate conference held discussions until late Tuesday evening. The outgoing Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) had previously rejected the initiative.
Greenpeace: “Fortunately, Andreas Scheuer is now history.”
Scheuer told journalists: “The fossil combustion engine will expire in 2035. The combustion technology is still needed. We want to make it climate-neutral with synthetic fuels and preserve the advantages of the technology.” However, the planned declaration does not take into account propulsion with synthetic fuels. That is why his ministry is decidedly against it. The Ministry of Transport said that this was also the line of the federal government. The important auto markets of China and the United States are also absent.
Greenpeace boss Martin Kaiser said: “It would be extremely embarrassing if Germany weren’t there.” Such a declaration is overdue. About the Minister of Transport, Kaiser said: “Fortunately, Andreas Scheuer is now history.” It is important that large car companies such as VW, BMW and Daimler take part.
Subsequent commitments are also not ruled out: Germany, for example, only signed a declaration on Tuesday after days of hesitation to end the financing of oil and gas projects abroad.