It’s a straightforward goal… but the challenge is huge. An initiative from The United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon calls for Sustainable Energy for All by 2030. Achieving it, he says, is “not only possible, but necessary.”
Speaking as the Rio+20 World Summit closed in Rio de Janeiro, he said: “(Sustainable Energy for All) is the golden thread that connects development, social inclusion, and environmental protection. This initiative is already mobilizing significant action from all sectors of society.”
The Renault-Nissan Alliance is certainly mobilized. The only carmaker to be actively involved in the UN programme, the Alliance has committed $5 billion to commercialising affordable zero-emission transport.
By the end of this year we will have introduced five pure electric vehicles to the market and by the end of 2016 we aim to have delivered 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles globally. Examples of our EVs – Nissan LEAF, Renault Fluence Z.E., Renault Kangoo Z.E. and Renault Twizy – were in Rio showing delegates that electric vehicles are not the future, but that they are here now.
(R) Renault and Nissan EVs at the Alliance booth in the HSBC Arena in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (L) Renault Fluence Z.E. in front of RioCentro.
From a personal mobility perspective, Sustainable Energy for All is not restricted to electric vehicles. The internal combustion engine remains the motive force for the vast majority of new vehicles produced and, again, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is leading the way when it comes to developing highly efficient power units powered by petrol, diesel and biofuels.
They’re needed. The demand for individual mobility is growing at a remarkable rate in emerging countries. For example, Chinese consumers bought 600,000 vehicles in 1999. Last year they bought more than 17 million.
Coping with this sort of growth is driving the Alliance forward. Technologies we develop today will help us reduce our energy consumption tomorrow.
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Find out more on the Alliance at Rio+20:
- See our presentation video
- See our recap video
- Read the press release from the United Nations