Latin America. At the COP 26 global environmental summit in Scotland, an agreement was promoted to boost the production of zero-emission vehicles, because this sector is responsible for a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
More than a hundred national governments, cities, states and large companies have signed the Glasgow Declaration on Zero-Emission Cars and Vans to end the sale of internal combustion engines by 2035 and in the world's major markets by 2040. At least thirteen countries have also pledged to end the sale of heavy-duty vehicles using fossil fuels by 2040.
From many cities, initiatives are already underway, such as in the Latin American cities of Bogotá, Cuenca and Salvador, which aim to achieve zero-emission public transport fleets by 2035.
"The message to decision-makers is: We need to make sure we start normalizing that, by 2035, we need to stop selling petrol and diesel cars. For buses, it will be earlier, 2030; heavy transport, may take a little longer, 2040. The point is to get used to the idea of having a timetable to be able to move to zero-emission options in all areas. This is not only for the advanced markets of developing countries, but also for developing economies, because we know that the worst pollution is there," said Monica Araya of the global Drive Electric Campaign.
Araya has made it very clear: during the transition, developing countries cannot become the dumping ground for the old technology of the richest, but must be seen as drivers of great change.
