Our key takeaway: As a major driver and facilitator of economic activity, not to mention a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, the transport sector has a crucial role to play in meeting global net-zero emissions targets. However, the World Benchmarking Alliance’s latest benchmark finds that the sector as a whole isn’t pulling its weight. Many companies lack sufficiently detailed net-zero plans; companies are failing to use their expertise and industry platform instead being nudged along by other stakeholders; new technology in the transport sector is not being developed at the pace or scale needed to halt the climate crisis; companies are not applying a just transition lens to their efforts; and very few transport companies conduct effective human rights due diligence that underpins the just transition.
The World Benchmarking Alliance released the results of its latest study, the 2022 Climate and Energy Benchmark on the Transport Sector (October 2022). The Transport Benchmark assesses 90 keystone transport companies that have a disproportionate influence on achieving the Paris Agreement goals and the SDGs. Some key findings are below: