Investors will allocate US $ 1 billion to ecological buses for Latin America

An international coalition of investors has pledged to inject more than US $ 1 billion (872 million euros) to provide Latin American countries with fleets of zero-emission electric public buses.

This coalition of investors committed to the Zero Emissions Bus Rapid Deployment Accelerator (ZEBRA) – an association that promotes the deployment of more than 3,000 electric coaches in Latin American cities – to enable a just transition and provide the necessary support for cities in the global south, according to a statement.

Investor groups participating in this project include AMP Capital, ARC Global Fund, Ascendal, Ashmore, Copec Voltex, EDP Brasil, Enel X, John Laing, VEMO and VGMobility.

Since the use of public transport must double in cities around the world to maintain the warming limit of 1.5 ° Celsius, “Zero-emission bus fleets will be crucial to ensure sustainable public transport for the future”.

The network of mayors C40 -regidores of almost 100 cities that collaborate to face the climate crisis- and the ICCT -NGO focused on the energy efficiency of public transport- are the promoters of the initiative ZEBRA.

The Mayor of London and Chairman of the C40, Sadiq Khan, will participate this Thursday in an act within the framework of COP26 together with the Secretary of Transportation of the United States, Pete Buttigieg, to defend that ecological public transport “it will be essential if the world wants to limit the thermal rise to 1.5 ° Celsius ”.

In addition to the promise of investment of more than US $ 1 billion, the manufacturers will increase the production of these vehicles for the region.

These include companies such as Volvo, Zhongtong, IUSA, Busscar and Rennorg, which have committed to making zero-emission vehicles commercially available in Latin America and, where possible, producing them locally.

According to the note, Latin America currently has “about 2,500 electric buses that prevent the release of more than 255,000 tons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere each year ”, and they are expected to unfold “2,000 more electric coaches in the next year”.