Carbon Dioxide and other greenhouse gases are responsible for the warming of the planet by almost 1°C since the late 19th century.

The subject of greenhouse gases, their link to climate change, and sustainability initiatives have been in the news almost constantly over the last few years, and there has been a push to recognise climate change as a national and global emergency within Parliament.

In 2019, vans registered in the EU, Iceland, Norway, and the UK emitted an average of 158.4g of CO2 for every kilometre driven, according to the European Environment Agency. When you consider that each van in Great Britain travels an average of 13,000 miles — or approximately 20,921km — per year, this means each vehicle emits around 3.3 tonnes of CO2 every year. With 14.1 million vans on the UK’s roads, approximately 46.5 million tonnes of CO2 are released annually.

With this background, it’s inevitable that commercial fleets are facing ever-increasing scrutiny about how they operate. And, they’re often integral to a business’s wider carbon reduction strategy. We know from a humanitarian perspective that it’s important to limit and reduce the CO2 companies produce, but could there be wider benefits for your business?

Saving the planet

A lot has been written about carbon offsets and planting trees to reabsorb the CO2 released into the atmosphere. However, each tree planted will only absorb around 25kg of CO2 per year meaning, for each van on the road, you would need to plant 132 trees.

It seems obvious to say, but it’s worth repeating that the best way to reduce your CO2 emissions is to use less fuel in the first place. Fleet management solutions like MICHELIN Connected Fleet can help you to optimise your journeys and maintain your vehicles to improve your fleet’s fuel efficiency. You can read more about this in our guide to reducing fuel waste with fleet management services and solutions.

Saving your budget

While sustainability and zero-emissions schemes are of the utmost importance to both fleets and businesses, the impact of shrinking your carbon footprint can reduce more than your CO2 emissions.

As we’ve previously mentioned, reducing your fleet’s fuel usage is the most effective way to cut your emissions. And, if you require less fuel to run your operations, this will also have an impact on how much you spend on fuel.

We know that keeping costs as low as possible is incredibly important to fleet managers and, as fuel is likely to be one of your biggest expenses, taking steps to reduce your emissions can be hugely beneficial.

Not just for corporate image

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that climate change is something that must be tackled at every level of society, and commercial fleets shouldn’t be an exception to that. Plus, by reducing the CO2 emissions of your vehicle fleet, you’ll unlock other benefits for your wider business.