MAN Truck & Bus
The climate crisis is still the most urgent challenge facing the world. That’s why the 27th UN climate conference (COP27), to be held from 6 to 18 November in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, has one clear task: to take collective and concerted action to do more against global heating. The event will be attended by more than 35,000 delegates and over 2,000 speakers and takes place on a symbolic date: the Earth Summit, held 30 years ago in Rio de Janeiro, launched international climate politics.
Clear task: COP27 looks to take collective and concerted action to do more against global heating.
Start of a new era: Simon Stiell, Head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, calls on the world to implement the climate goals at the start of COP27.
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are expected at COP27 in Egypt.
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lower fleet greenhouse gas emissions per kilometre driven by all the trucks, buses and vans sold is MAN’s target for 2030 (compared to the base year 2019).
Implementing global measures quickly
A lot has happened since 1992, and at the last climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, the parties to the climate convention reinforced their commitment to stronger global measures to fight climate change. These measures must now be implemented as quickly as possible. “I deeply believe that COP27 is an opportunity to showcase unity against an existential threat that we can only overcome through concerted action and effective implementation,” declared the host, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
190 states, regions and organisations have already promised to phase out coal-fired power generation and some 40 countries want to end the financing of fossil fuels overseas. More than 110 countries are committed to stopping the worldwide destruction of forests by 2030. 105 countries are seeking to reduce their methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.
The fight against climate change is our most pressing task. It’s not just about the future of Europe, it’s the future of the entire planet.
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A clear timetable: The MAN Sustainability Report describes the company’s sustainability targets.
Ambitious climate targets at MAN
MAN has also set ambitious climate targets and has already implemented a variety of measures to tangibly reduce CO2 emissions. What’s more, the company has embedded decarbonisation as a central part of its strategy and has made a clear and unambiguous commitment to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. “The fight against climate change is our most pressing task. It’s not just about the future of Europe, it’s the future of the entire planet. It’s about the basis of existence for future generations,” explained MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp in his speech on the role of MAN in the fight against climate change.
This is why MAN pledged to define binding and science-based targets to reduce emissions as part of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in September 2021. The aim is to achieve a greenhouse gas neutral balance sheet by 2050. For the first step, the target is to save 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2019 levels across all the company’s locations around the world by 2030. Total fleet greenhouse gas emissions per kilometre driven by trucks, buses and vans sold by MAN are also set to fall by 28 per cent by 2030 (compared to the base year 2019).
“Our product portfolio, which is currently responsible for around 98 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions, is the biggest lever we have to reduce CO2. That’s why we are especially keen to make huge progress with the electrification of our fleet,” said Vlaskamp “Demand for e-buses or electrified solutions for urban logistics is already climbing significantly. We will be starting production of electric HGVs in early 2024.”
Future: MAN will be producing the new eTruck from 2024.
Value chain and production to become climate neutral
MAN’s long-term climate goal also proposes that the entire value chain should be more climate-friendly by 2050. This includes extending the lifespan of vehicle batteries and recycling the raw materials they contain at the end of the useful lives. To achieve this, MAN is teaching its customers how to drive and charge to be kind to their batteries.
And if a battery is returned to MAN after being used in a vehicle, it is intensively analysed. If it can no longer simply be used in a truck, bus or van, re-use is a possibility: a second use in a vehicle after factory reconditioning (second use), a second battery life (second life) – for example as buffer storage for solar or wind power generation – and lastly recycling of battery raw materials for new batteries as part of the circular economy (recycling).
Everything at a glance: MAN is focusing on three sustainability goals: environmental, social and governance.
Renewable resources: In Pinetown (South Africa), solar cells produce climate-friendly electricity for the MAN plant there.
I deeply believe that COP27 is an opportunity to showcase unity against an existential threat that we can only overcome through concerted action and effective implementation.
Production is also set to be CO2 neutral on the balance sheet. To achieve that, MAN is seeking to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 95 per cent and will offset the remaining five per cent. Alongside measures to increase energy efficiency, the focus is on power generation and the use of electricity from renewable sources, as well as the use of lower CO2 heating. For example, at the Krakow plant (Poland), CO2 emissions have been significantly reduced by the use of a wood pellet-based heating system. The Nuremberg plant is switching its heating from brown coal to a district heating scheme. Munich and Pinetown (South Africa) generate their own renewable electricity using photovoltaic panels. All of MAN’s production sites already use electricity from renewable sources.
Surviving the competition
Investments in greater sustainability also strengthen MAN’s position among the competition. Since the market launch of the Lion’s City E electric bus in 2020, customer contracts have been signed for the delivery of more than 1,000 vehicles in total. And MAN will be starting production of electric HGVs in early 2024. The aim is clear: by the end of this decade, at least half of all the vehicles sold in the EU will be electric. MAN is taking its share of the responsibility for the fight against climate change.
Text Boris Pieritz
Photos MAN, Getty Images (2)
