MAN Truck & Bus
The “NewMAN” corporate strategy introduced by MAN highlights future issues and aligns its actions with the principles of sustainability. “Now we have to act in light of the global climate crisis”, Andreas Tostmann, Chairman of the Board at MAN Truck & Bus explains. “MAN has achieved a lot in the past and is now taking binding steps to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions that arise in the use of our vehicles, in their production and within the delivery chain”, Tostmann announces. “Joining SBTi is a significant step in defining interim targets on our path to greenhouse gas neutrality. We at MAN are therefore pursuing the vision of offering our customers sustainable solutions regarding freight and passenger transport.”
SBTi is a partnership between the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), the United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The initiative assists companies to set their science-based targets in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, which was adopted by the United Nations in 2015. This envisages that global warming should be limited to well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels – preferably even to 1.5°C. By signing and submitting its commitment letter, MAN Truck & Bus has now also committed itself to the SBTi and is preparing for submission of its corresponding targets.
Responsibility for commercial vehicles
MAN believes that as a commercial vehicle manufacturer it bears particular responsibility for contributing its utmost to climate protection. The European Environment Agency (EEA) reports that in 2019 the transport sector was responsible for around 29 per cent of climate-damaging emissions, of which in turn almost a third is attributable to commercial vehicle operations involving heavy and light trucks. “Of course this also involves a large number of MAN vehicles. And our responsibility for climate protection is correspondingly large. More than 95 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions along our value chain occur during the phase in which our products are used. Reducing emissions in this area is therefore our top priority”, Fabian Heidinge, head of the decarbonisation programme at MAN clarifies. The commercial vehicle manufacturer is now due to submit clear targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its products in the use phase and at its corporate premises for validation by SBTi.
Low-emission transport solutions
“As a commercial vehicle manufacturer, we can at the same time exert the necessary leverage to make transport more eco-friendly. We can do this by providing our customers with cost-effective and efficient transport solutions based on low-emission energy sources. Climate protection and sustainability also open up new fields of business for us”, Fabian Heidinger adds. This is an exciting aspect that is already emerging in the passenger car sector, especially in relation to corresponding energy infrastructure services, new digital solutions and subsequently also automation. “We see it as our task to sustainably reconcile economics and ecology – and this is a challenge for society as a whole in which we’ll play our part.”
