Context: Recently, six large automobile makers and 31 countries pledged to work towards ending the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040.
Key Findings

• The automobile companies that made the commitment accounted for approximately a quarter of global sales in 2019.
• These automakers include the American companies Ford and General Motors, Mercedes-Benz of Germany, and Volvo of Sweden.
• India, the fourth-largest auto market in the world joined the coalition, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Sweden.

Travel Emissions around the Globe

• The entire transport sector accounted for a little more than a fifth of total CO2 emissions.
• As of 2018, road travel — including both passenger and freight vehicles accounted for almost three-quarters of the world’s transport emissions.
• Road transport accounted for 15% of total global CO2 emissions.
• Passenger vehicles like cars and buses accounted for the larger part of road travel emissions, and 45.1% of total CO2 emissions from transport.
• Aviation and shipping were small contributors to global transport emissions — 11.6% and 10.6% respectively.
• The contribution of rail travel was negligible.

Per Capita CO2 Emissions

• As per the Global Carbon Project, with the end of the pandemic induced slowdown, emissions were expected to rise by 4.9%.
• The Global Carbon Project is a Global Research Project of Future Earth and a research partner of the World Climate Research Programme.
• It works with the international science community to support actions to slow down the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.