Davos attendees can cut 3 million tonnes of CO2 by switching to low-emission fleets

That’s one of the key findings in the first annual Sustainable Fleet Benchmark published today by LeasePlan Corporation N.V., a global leader in fleet management and driver mobility. The new Benchmark also underlines the significant contribution that corporate fleets can make in the fight against climate change, and highlights those organisations that are already making a difference by switching to sustainable fleets.

Highlights include:

• The 1,808 organisations attending the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters have an estimated 813,000 vehicles in their fleets, which collectively emit approximately 3.09 million tonnes of CO2 per annum. • Fleets are gradually moving towards alternative powertrains, primarily battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, as awareness builds. The proportion of vehicles with alternative powertrains in corporate fleets rose from 3.3% in 2015 to 4.3% in 2017. • Continued action is required as average CO2 emissions rose slightly in 2017 for the first time since 2012. This is due to increased uptake of petrol vehicles, as well as the first rise in average mileage since 2013. • The Benchmark identifies 3 profiles for sustainable fleets: Starter, Transformer and Leader. The technology sector contains the highest number of companies with a Leader profile. • Companies with a Leader profile include Baidu, EDF Group, IKEA Group and Royal HaskoningDHV.

"Climate change, and how to prevent it, is one of the major topics at this year’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Around half the cars on the road today belong to companies and a move towards cleaner fleets would be one of the best ways to reduce global emissions. Corporate fleets must be a part of this conversation. It is as simple as a decision from top leadership saying ‘we will make the switch’, and that can happen today. LeasePlan is committed to helping any organisation that wants to make a positive contribution to this historic challenge.”

Notes to editors

• The Sustainable Fleet Benchmark 2017 is available to download at www.leaseplan.com/newsroom • The Benchmark’s findings are based on an analysis of LeasePlan’s database of over 500,000 vehicles across 32 countries, operating in sectors ranging from healthcare to technology • Road transport accounts for approximately 20% of the EU’s total emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2): https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/vehicles_en • The 48th WEF Annual Meeting takes place in Davos-Klosters from 23rd January until 26th January. • EV100 is a global business initiative designed to fast-track the uptake of electric vehicles (EV) and infrastructure. This is the only initiative of its kind to encourage global business commitments on electric transport, with members committing to transition their petrol and diesel fleets to electric vehicle fleets by 2030. LeasePlan is one of the ten founding partners of EV100. More information about LeasePlan’s involvement with EV100 is available here.