International governments spanning the US, Canada, Mexico and the UK have jointly committed to fully convert their own fleets of vehicles to be zero emission by no later than 2040.

Nine national, regional, state and city-level governments have signed up to Climate Group’s newly launched ZEV Pledge initiative

In total, nine national, regional, state and city-level governments have signed up to to the Climate Group’s newly launched ZEV Pledge, collectively representing 121,355 vehicles on the road, with nearly a third of these being medium- or heavy-duty vehicles.

Signatories include the UK government, which has affirmed that 100% of its car and van fleet will be zero-emission by 2027; first announced in this summer’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan and three years earlier than previously planned.

The Scottish government has committed to a 100% zero-emission light duty vehicles (4+ wheels vehicles) by 2035 and 100% zero-emission heavy duty vehicles by 2040.

The city of New York has said it will run 100% zero-emission medium and heavy duty vehicles by 2040.

And California has pledged to have 100% zero-emission buses by 2030; 100% zero-emission light duty vehiclesby 2035, and 100% zero-emission medium- and heavy duty vehicles by 2040.

The Climate Group’s launch of the ZEV Pledge for public fleets follows the growth of its EV100 corporate leadership initiative and particularly targets fleet vehicles, which globally make up a quarter (24%) of vehicles on the road, yet contribute to more than half (56%) of road transport emissions. Research has found that faster electrification of fleets could deliver “transformational” benefits for our climate, health and infrastructure.

Sandra Roling, head of transport, Climate Group, said: “It’s essential we continue to build on the momentum for clean road transport following COP26, so I welcome the leadership we’re seeing today from governments who are putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to their own vehicles. More than half a billion vehicles on the road are owned or operated by governments, public sector organisations and businesses. There is huge potential to use this collective purchasing power to drive the auto market towards a cleaner future.

“While supportive policy is important for enabling a faster shift to zero emission vehicles, governments at all levels also have a responsibility to lead by example by decarbonising their fleets. We hope to see many more governments join the ZEV Pledge in the coming months.”