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The European Commission has published its Communication on the European Green Deal, outlining the initial roadmap of the key policies and measures needed to pave the way towards climate neutrality in the EU.

Ms Nicolette van der Jagt, Director General of CLECAT, said: ‘CLECAT welcomes the ambition of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent in the world by 2050. The various elements introduced in the Green Deal span across all the sectors of economy. With regards to transport, the Commission has estimated that a 90% reduction in transport emissions is needed to achieve climate-neutrality by 2050. It has therefore proposed to adopt a strategy for sustainable and smart mobility in 2020 that will tackle all sources of transport emissions.’

‘The ambitious decarbonisation targets can only be achieved with bold investments, smart regulation and a clear engagement of both governments and industry,’ argued Ms van der Jagt, adding that ‘CLECAT supports the acceleration of the pace of decarbonisation in Europe but warns against certain measures that would prevent the Green Deal from becoming an opportunity for the transport and logistics industry rather than a burden, given in particular the unrealistic modal shift objectives.’

CLECAT also expects the Commission to come up with a strong financial framework to mitigate possible competitive disadvantages, in particular on a global level.  Funding is key to support the proposed measures and investment in new technologies, alternative fuels and transport infrastructure, as part of the negotiations on the Connecting Europe Facility and MFF, without which the ambitions of the Green Deal will not be reached.

‘CLECAT is looking forward to the new legislative framework to guide society in the transition towards carbon neutrality. This will represent an opportunity for freight forwarders and logistics service providers, some of which have already pledged to reach zero emissions by 2050,’ noted Ms van der Jagt.