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Sustainability is a shared destiny

The latest IPCC report opening sentence from the UN Secretary General put emphasis on our shared destiny with his selected words: “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.” The message cannot get any clearer than that. We seriously need to head down a different road, driving towards emissions freedom together.

Sustainability is a shared destiny

 

The IPCC report published in March reminded us that time is of the essence and that choices made now will “reverberate for hundreds, even thousands, of years”.

“Now is definitely the time for humanity to go into action-mode, while still keeping our chin up and not being paralyzed by climate anxiety. We are at a serious point, but the IPCC report also gives some hope:
If we act now, we will manage to mitigate climate change,”

says Felix Köhnlein, Group Sustainability Manager in Mer.

Sustainability is a shared destiny

Towards net zero, powered by nature

The Paris Agreement in 2015 has prompted several countries to develop climate policies and set their own climate targets. Halting global warming at 1.5 or 2 degrees requires immediate, comprehensive, and sustained emission cuts in all sectors this decade.

To limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees, global CO2 emissions must be halved by 2030 and reach net zero in the early 2050s. Greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to net zero, meaning they get reduced to the extent that we have at least as much uptake as emissions.

Many countries have worked on cutting emission for more than a decade, but the way things are going; it simply doesn´t cut it. We are likely to pass 1.5 degrees Celsius as early as 2030 and 2035, according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The transport sector stands for 25 percent of the CO2 emissions, and almost 75 percent of this is from road transportation. Hence, moving from internal combustion engines cars (ICE) to electric vehicles (EVs) is fundamental to combat the climate changes.  Statkraft´s Low emissions scenario 2021 points to electrification as the single most important contributor to emission cuts. Still, the transition to EVs is only sustainable when the cars are powered by renewable energy.

In 2022, the 36,557 chargers in the Mer European EV network powered up a total of 511.5 million electric kilometers travelled, with renewable energy from Statkraft.

“We are positioned to accelerate the EV transition in Europe. We are also committed to become carbon neutral during 2023, to set a standard within our industry and inspire others to make the same efforts,” Köhnlein says. 

 

Sustainability is a shared destiny
Let´s drive towards emissions freedom together.

Positive movement, creating a bright future
When the climate changes, both nature and people become more vulnerable. Today, it is those least responsible for the climate crisis that are most affected.  Almost half of the world’s population (3.3–3.6 billion people) live in areas that are highly vulnerable to climate change. Human mortality from floods, droughts and storms was 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions, compared to regions with very low vulnerability, between 2010 and 2020. At the same time, 10 percent of the richest households contributed up to 45 percent of the world’s households’ greenhouse gas emissions.

“We need to make more conscious decisions about our lifestyle choices, how we travel, what we buy and consume, and maximize the use of resources,” Köhnlein says.

Mer´s starting point was forward thinking employees with a unified sustainable vision of making it easy to drive an EV, powered by clean, renewable energy. From the very beginning, it was about contributing to the greater good by doing the right thing, one charging session at a time.

“Sustainability is at the foundation when we develop new processes, and when we are making improvements we consider efficiency in terms of both cost, time, resources, and social impact. During 2021, we started working more systematically on sustainable initiatives, that resulted in our first sustainability report,” Köhnlein says, adding that Mer works continuously and purposefully with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), also including the important social and governance aspects.

“Sustainability is not a destination, it will always be a journey,”
Köhnlein says.

The aim is to take full responsibility for the supply chain.

“We literally take the small parts seriously, such as where do the different parts in the wall box come from, what is the impact on environment, human rights and living rates?In every business decision we make, we want to be conscious and mindful about the choices. We are committed to sustainable and responsible business practices and our commitment can only be achieved if our employees, suppliers, and partners act with the same ambition,” he says.

Read more about Mer and sustainability

Sustainability is a shared destiny

Source: The IPCC 

What is the IPCC and what do they do?

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the scientific group assembled by the United Nations to monitor and assess all global science related to climate change. The objective of the IPCC is to provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies.

The IPCC launches reports on different aspects of climate change. The IPCC’s 6th Synthesis report is the most recent. It compiles findings from all reports in the IPCC’s sixth assessment cycle, covering the latest climate science, the threats we’re already facing today from climate change, and what we can do to limit further temperature rises and the dangers that poses for the whole planet.