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A worldwide transition to electric that involves all affected parties— workers, pollution-impacted communities, small & medium operators, drivers, Indigenous Peoples and other supply chain-affected communities—and responds to former and potential injustices, in order to protect human rights, land and environment as we pivot and develop new systems for a clean truck future.  

“A just transition to clean energy must centre on three core principles: Shared prosperity, Human rights and social protection and Fair Negotiations”
Business & Human Rights Resource Center

Zero-emissions medium or heavy-duty trucks means a truck without an internal combustion engine. Battery electric is the only technology available today which can cut emissions from new sales quickly, fully decarbonize the sector in the long-term, and eliminate harmful air pollution. Additionally, battery electric technology is rapidly advancing its viability across all trucking use cases and reducing its cost.

There is potentially a role for hydrogen fuel cell trucks using green hydrogen, however its potential role in the transition is increasingly shrinking (Liebrich, ITF), particularly given its high cost, low efficiency, most deployments expected post-2030, and when merit order for green hydrogen is considered.

These years are aligned with the Global Memorandum of Understanding on Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles (Global MOU), signed on by 33 nations: 100% zero-emission sales in 2040 and 30% by 2030 to reach net zero emissions by 2050. They are based on projections of the necessary zero-emissions truck sales necessary to achieve global climate goals.

Leading markets have a high share of truck registrations and are most advanced in the transition to zero emissions. This includes China (in 2023, 38,200  zero-emissions heavy duty vehicles were registered), Europe (10,800), and the USA (1,200). China and the US are the largest truck markets globally, accounting for 17-22% of total 2023 and 1H 2024 sales. The combined European market and India were approximately 7-8% of global sales each. For Volvo, the EU is their #1 market and for Daimler, the US is #1 market.

Supply-side regulations include fuel economy standards, CO₂ standards, and/or zero-emissions truck sales obligations and often include interim year requirements. It is critical that truck manufacturers support supply-side regulations with interim year requirements as they are the most effective means to create market certainty for an industry-wide transition and a growing, affordable, and competitive supply of zero-emission trucks.

• 89% of Europeans living in cities are considered to be breathing dangerous levels of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂), and 97% of them are breathing dangerous levels of PM2.5.
• In the U.S.A., researchers have detected increases in air pollution in communities where new warehouses have opened… there is a spike in annual NO₂ of nearly 20% associated with warehouses.
  
• Low-income neighborhoods and communities of color experience an average of 28 percent more NO₂ pollution than higher-income and majority-white neighborhoods.
• In Low and Middle income countries, air pollution levels are particularly high where economies tend to rely more heavily on polluting industries and technologies like older trucks.
• In G20 countries, heavy-duty vehicles’ exhaust accounted for 86% of on-road diesel nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions in 2015. 

Communities and workers need guarantees that negotiations will be fair throughout operational life-cycles and when accessing remediation for harm. There will be inclusive community consultation and robust implementation of the principles of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) for Indigenous Peoples; and guarantees that workers, Indigenous and community leaders will not be silenced through intimidation or violence.

Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all human beings are rights-holders and in particular contexts, there are often specific social groups whose human rights are not fully realized, respected or protected, and have particular entitlements. These groups often include women/girls, ethnic minorities, Indigenous Peoples, migrants and youth. 

According the Business and Human Rights Resource Center, a just transition to clean energy must center on three core principles: Shared prosperity, Human rights and social protection and Fair Negotiations.

Like automotive manufacturers, truck manufacturers are major buyers of emissions-intensive and polluting metals and minerals, including steel, aluminum, and the growing battery industry. To achieve global climate goals and avoid repeating harmful business-as-usual practices, the heavy industries in truck makers supply chains need to be reformed in parallel:

• Equitable, respecting and advancing human rights
• Sustainable, preserving the environment and reducing primary resource demand
• Fossil-free, a fossil-free supply chain

A circular economy is where materials are reused, repurposed, or recycled at a high quality, instead of continually relying on materials obtained through mining. Circularity is often focused on recycling end-of-life EV batteries to create new batteries, but it applies to all other materials used in truck manufacturing; in particular, resource and emissions intensive materials that truck manufacturers use in significant volumes, such as steel and aluminum.