This piece was originally published on ICLEI’s CityTalk website. 

9 December 2019, Madrid, Spain –– As part of the broad coalition convened under the Action towards Climate-friendly Transport (ACT) initiative launched at the UN Climate Action Summit in September, the Zero-Emission Freight Vehicle (ZEFV) ACTion Group has created a common vision together with key players working to scale up the global mass market for zero-emission freight vehicles.

The goal: increase ambitious action in the decarbonisation of freight and move the world closer to achieving the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The members of the diverse, multi-stakeholder ZEFV ACTion Group are living up to the commitment made at the UN Climate Action Summit – to transform transport and help the world realise its climate commitments. Transport is the fastest growing emissions sector and is responsible for 28% of energy-related GHG emissions. On its own, freight transport is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions with 62% of freight emissions being generated by road freight. Freight must be tackled as part of any comprehensive and effective action on transport decarbonisation.

The members of the ZEFV ACTion Group was formed during their first meeting in October 2019 in The Hague. They are not only sharing best practices and learning from one another, but also aim to align their work and actions around freight decarbonisation to have a bigger impact.

As the group further solidify their cooperation, their work will accelerate zero-emission freight vehicle uptake and help manufacturers better respond to market signals – making zero-emission freight vehicles commercially viable by 2025 and dominant by 2040. Some of the ways in which they will do this is by working with governments to show strong leadership and adopt policies that support an enabling environment for zero-emissions freight vehicles, while rolling out such vehicles where possible, scaling up a suitable infrastructure for operation, and signaling to the market the need for more clean vehicles.

The ZEFV ACTion Group has released a vision paper, which will serve as the basis for their workplan. The vision of a future with widespread zero-emission freight vehicles is:

1. A large range of ZEFVs are available for all types of services and goods transport.
2. Governments show leadership and adopt enabling policies.
3. Urban and interoperable user-friendly energy (fitting) infrastructure is available for all vehicle types in all regions.
4. ZEFVs have an attractive total cost of ownership (TCO) and cost parity.
5. Fleet owners adopt ZEFVs.
6. Users demand zero-emission freight services.

Download the complete vision paper here.

The ZEFV ACTion Group is championed by the Transport Decarbonisation Alliance (TDA) in collaboration with CALSTART/Drive to Zero. More information about the ZEFV ACTion Group available here.