German automaker Volkswagen Group’s VWAGY CEO Herbert Diess on Tuesday berated the Group of Seven nations for failing to set an end-date for phasing out coal and called for more action to reach the 2030 climate goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to at least 55% below the 1990 levels.
What Happened: Diess tweeted to say the G7 has not done enough and the recently concluded political forum was a “disappointing outcome,” pressing the need to exit coal usage much earlier.
“EVs are key to reach the climate goals 2030. But EVs only make sense with green energy, letting EVs run on coal is regulatory nonsense,” Diess tweeted.
That’s not enough, @G7. Disappointing outcome. We need to exit coal much earlier! EVs are key to reach the climate goals 2030. But EVs only make sense with green energy, letting EVs run on coal is regulatory nonsense. @COP26 @BorisJohnson @EU_Commission https://t.co/mOpqn2pJTW
— Herbert Diess (@Herbert_Diess) June 15, 2021
Why It Matters: The recently concluded G7 summit of nations including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States failed to set an end-date for phasing out coal usage, key to achieving the global climate change goals.
The political forum rejected a proposal to halt the production of diesel and petrol cars and did not do enough to set an end date to the use of coal in their own countries.
The German automaker is looking beyond the Dieselgate emission scandal and under Diess, who took over as CEO in 2018, has been ramping up plans to electrify its portfolio.
The company expects more than 70% of its Volkswagen brand’s European sales to be electric vehicles by 2030, up from a previous target of 35%. In the U.S. and China, it expects half of its sales to be EVs by that time frame.
See Also: General Motors To Offer Only EVs By 2035
Volkswagen and other global automakers including General Motors Co GM and Ford Motor Co F are setting tighter deadlines and setting aside billions of dollars for a fast switchover to a fully electric vehicle lineup, a disruption brought in and accelerated by Elon Musk-led Tesla Inc TSLA.
Price Action: VW OTC shares closed 0.72% lower at $35.95 on Monday.
Photo by Matti Blume on Wikimedia
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