According to estimates by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in 2019, transportation accounted for 9% of greenhouse gas emissions in Latin America. Of these, 44% were generated by freight transport, which in turn was subdivided into road transport, which accounted for 35%, followed by maritime transport with 6%, while air transport accounted for 3% and rail contributed 1 percent.
Given this scenario and with the aim of formulating strategies to prepare fleets for the future and make the leap towards environmentally friendly vehicles, Fleet Latam Summit 2024 was held, where Angélica Vesga, Director of Public Affairs and Communication at the World Resources Institute (WRI) , explained that in the face of climatic phenomena, whether due to floods or prolonged droughts and their impact not only at a social level, but also at a productive and economic level, it is necessary to have financial and governance systems that promote more sustainable mobility.
He explained that in the Latin American region it is a priority to align investments and policies, both in infrastructure for charging and in city design. He pointed out that it is essential to distribute public resources in transportation, as well as in energy-efficient constructions and new energies.
“While transport is an important part of the problem, it is also part of the solution. It is urgent to break the cycle of inaction, due to the lack of incentives and public policies. It is necessary for the various sectors to commit themselves: private initiative, authorities, public energy generating companies and social organizations,” said Vesga.
For her part, Mónica Mata, Program Manager for Latin America at The Climate Group , indicated that society must pressure governments to implement public policy instruments to adopt more sustainable mobility , and assured that it is necessary to create working groups to achieve the zero emissions goals in Latin America.
In turn, Francisco Cabeza, president of the Mexican Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles (AMIVE) , explained that it is difficult to talk about long-term projects in Latin America due to changes in government and the lack of continuity in agendas for the transition to cleaner mobility.
Despite this, Mexico and Brazil are leading the electrification of fleets, but these are mostly concentrated in private fleets. Thus, the challenge is to generate dialogue with all the actors involved in the energy transition of transport.
Cabeza explained that it is necessary to outline economically viable projects and to specify where the adoption of this type of technology makes sense.
