Decarbonizing mobility, transport and buildings will be the major challenges. For the transport and mobility sector, electric mobility for passenger cars, light vehicles and heavy duty vehicles has proven to be the most efficient technology in terms of energy consumption and emission reduction. To foster the entire ecosystem around electric mobility, members of the CEO Alliance have initiated cross-sectoral projects to ramp up battery production and create a charging infrastructure across Europe.
Building and renovation
Another critical sector is the building sector. AkzoNobel CEO, Thierry Vanlancker: “By transitioning towards carbon neutrality and helping to create more sustainable buildings, we can make a vital contribution and improve the places where we live and work. It’s not just about decarbonization, though. It’s also about health and well-being. As a company, we’re progressing well with ongoing efforts to cut our own carbon emissions in half by 2030. Today we can announce, that we have accelerated and will have 100% renewable electricity in the EU already by 2022.”
Turning its attention to the EU Commission’s Buildings Renovation Wave, the Alliance supports ambitious renovation targets (of at least 3% p.a.) to accelerate the transformation of the building stock. Buildings should meet higher standards regarding energy efficiency, renewables and sustainable materials. The Alliance also calls for fossil-fuel heating systems to be rapidly replaced by rolling out electric heat pumps, district heating and digital solutions. The CEOs are committed to applying this recommendation to their companies’ own buildings.
As one central instrument, Alliance members proposed a strong carbon price signal to achieve the EU’s climate targets. Carbon should have a price across the whole economy. The Alliance also called for continued enhancement of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (for power and heavy industry) and for the implementation of sector-specific cap-and-trade systems that would apply to mobility, transport and the buildings sector. Sector-specific systems could then converge beginning in 2030. Another proposal concerns a European carbon pricing system that would include measures to simultaneously achieve a social balance and emissions reduction.
Top executives
The CEO Alliance for Europe’s Recovery, Reform and Resilience brings together 12 top executives from the energy, transport and technology industries: Björn Rosengren (ABB), Thierry Vanlancker (AkzoNobel), Francesco Starace (ENEL), Leonhard Birnbaum (E.ON), Börje Ekholm (Ericsson), Henrik Henriksson (H2GreenSteel), Ignacio Galán (Iberdrola), Frans van Houten (Philips), Christian Klein (SAP), Christian Levin (Scania), Jean-Pascale Tricoire (Schneider Electric) and Herbert Diess (Volkswagen).
Image: Lisa-S/Shutterstock
