Corporate fleet managers have significant influence over carbon emissions from road transport, according to a report from analysts CE Delft for Greenpeace.
Europe’s corporate fleets produce around 380MtCO2e a year, which is about 45% of the total GHG emissions from road transport in Europe, the study found.
Fleet managers are responsible for 50% of new car purchases in Europe, but the impact of their decisions is far greater since the majority of company cars are sold into the secondhand car market, according to the report.
In the UK, 90% of new vans and 54% of new cars were bought by companies in 2014. Company cars travel on average twice the miles private cars do, so are responsible for the majority of road transport’s impact on climate change, according to Andy Eastlake, managing director of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP).
Fleet managers could save millions of tonnes of CO2 and €28 billion a year through efficiency measures and technologies that are already available, such as eco-driving and retrofitting aerodynamic features to HGVs. The LowCVP has launched a guide to advise fleet managers on purchasing decisions.
