There is now widespread acceptance that the net effect of human activities over the last 250 years has been one of rising global temperatures, with around 12% of worldwide C02 emissions being specifically attributed to the road transport sector alone. Such revelations have been instrumental in the development of forthcoming EU corporate fleet average C02 emission targets of 130g/km by 2012, reducing to 100g/km by 2020.
Despite this headline, the automobile is intrinsically and positively linked with economic prosperity and freedom. The production of around 60 million vehicles annually provides the global population with the ever-increasing mobility they require to prosper; provides vital revenues for governments and represents a source of employment for millions of workers on a direct and indirect basis around the world.
As such the developed world is anticipated to fiercely protect its right for automotive mobility, with emerging nations expected to embrace the automobile as an intrinsic part of their ongoing economic development. As a result annual global automobile production is expected to reach 80million vehicles by the year 2020.
The automotive industry therefore faces an intriguing parody ~ to contribute towards continuing global economic prosperity through increasing production and sales, whilst reducing the burden it places on the environmental balance sheet.
Whilst the parody might appear hard to reconcile, this pre-supposes that continued development and sustainability are mutually exclusive. Yet, far from signalling the death of the automobile, this parody serves to assure its very future; whilst simultaneously placing the industry in a privileged position to deliver the most significant single contribution towards achieving a sustainable and prosperous environment for future generations.
To secure this future, holistic solutions will be required which ensure the sustainability agenda is applied across every activity in the value chain. A multitude of behavioural changes and new technologies each provide their scope to contribute, but their breadth and complexity are often bewildering to those directly and indirectly employed in the industry, let alone the final customer.
Nudge Advisory specialises in providing services which make sense of this complexity, enabling the sector to develop and communicate the environmental credentials of their product strategies, thereby increasing sales.
