There is much to take stock of now that just over a week has passed since COP26. On the one hand the world is clearly failing to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, despite promising to do so in Paris in 2015. And yet there are important wins from COP26, most notably an agreement by countries to strengthen emission reduction national plans by next year instead of 2025. There have also been renewed efforts toward stronger financing for adaptation to poor countries, deforestation, coal phase-out (or phase-down), methane reduction, and electric vehicles.

With COP26 just around the corner, this is a critical time to demonstrate your support and leadership so that we can more prominently frame zero-emission commercial vehicles as part of our global climate solution.

With Climate Week NYC and the United Nations General Assembly underway this week, and just over a month remaining until the start of COP26, global attention is increasingly focused on climate change and the narrowing window of opportunity to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The most recent IPCC Report delivered the starkest warning about climate change, building on increasingly visible impacts ranging from unprecedent heat waves, forest fires, floods and loss of biodiversity. This is the first time an IPCC report expressed more instances of “high confidence” than “medium confidence” impacts, partly because of better science and climate modeling, but partly because the impacts of climate change are already here.

Next week the Clean Energy Ministerial will hold its 12th annual meeting (CEM12)gathering the largest and leading countries, companies and international experts to accelerate clean energy transitions.

Next week the Clean Energy Ministerial will hold its 12th annual meeting (CEM12)gathering the largest and leading countries, companies and international experts to accelerate clean energy transitions.

Next week the Clean Energy Ministerial will hold its 12th annual meeting (CEM12)gathering the largest and leading countries, companies and international experts to accelerate clean energy transitions.

On Earth Week it’s important to remember that there is no Plan B for our planet (as much as I love sci-fi), and that we are running out of time. The future of our transportation systems needs to be zero emissions, and there should be no compromise.

This past month the Traton Group, one of the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturers including MAN, Scania and in the process of acquiring Navistar in North America, announced a clear focus on electric drive technologies and equivalent disinvestment in internal combustion engines.