A group of 18 European companies and organizations today announced the formation of the European Clean Trucking Alliance (ECTA), promoting the goal of accelerating the decarbonization of road freight transport in the EU.

The new alliance consists of major consumer, shipping and logistics companies and associations, including Nestlé, Ab InBev, IKEA, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Unilever, Contargo, and FM logistic, among others. Altogether, the ECTA business members employ more than 1.6 million people globally and have over EUR 325 billion yearly revenue. Organisations that have joined ECTA include civil society organisations and associations with the strongest network of members and experience in transport and mobility at the European level. The International Council on Clean Transportation acts as technical observer.

The key goal of the group is to decarbonise road freight in the EU, urging the EU to accelerate the transition to clean trucks in order to meet the emission targets of the proposed EU Climate Law by 2030 and achieve a carbon-neutral Europe by 2050.

According to ECTA, there are approximately 40 million delivery vehicles across Europe, with trucks carrying more than three quarters of all freight transported over land. As road freight activity is expected to double by 2050, the alliance aims to support the EU in the development and implementation of sustainable road freight transport policies to drastically reduce CO2 and air pollutant emissions.

With the foundation of the alliance, ECTA issues its first communication, “Europe’s Opportunity to Decarbonise the Road Freight Sector,” advocating multiple steps the European Commission can take to make the shift to zero-emissions trucks a priority in order to meet the ambitious emission targets of the proposed EU Climate Law by 2030 and achieve a carbon-neutral Europe by 2050.

Erik Novaes, Vice President of Procurement & Sustainability, Europe, Anheuser-Busch InBev said:

“We welcome the ECTA’s vision to achieve the fastest feasible decarbonisation of road freight vehicles in Europe. As a leader in sustainable brewing, we are committed to piloting different zero-emission technologies to deliver our beers in a number of European cities. Our first e-trucks will be on the roads by the end of this year, and we plan a hydrogen pilot in 2021. Sharing our best practices, we are firmly dedicated to working with the industry and governments towards a greener future of zero-emission transport.”

Elisabeth Munck af Rosenschöld, Sustainability Manager, IKEA Supply Chain Operations said:

“At IKEA, we are guided by our vision to create a better everyday life for the many people. We have ambitious goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from every transport that we do by 70% by 2030. We are very happy to be part of the ECTA because we believe that by working together with others, we can achieve more and secure a sustainable future.”

Paul Lammers, Head of Supply Chain for Nestlé Zone Europe, Middle East and North Africa said:

“We are proud to be one of the founding members of the European Clean Trucking Alliance. Improving the efficiency of our transport and distribution is crucial if we want to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Since 2014, we have reduced our CO2 emissions in logistics by more than 10% in Europe. Having more zero-emission trucks and the required infrastructure will help accelerate this move.”