Silence
Set In Stone

In 2021, we launched Set in Stone during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. Polestar engraved their clear climate action commitments in stone and urged the rest of the car industry to do the same. Though a lot was said at the conference, only a handful of car brands were ready to commit to something even close to what is enough. What was supposed to be a historical document of promises turned out to be a blank slate. 

This year, Polestar returns with the granite block for the COP27 conference in Sharm El-Sheikh. To give the car industry a chance to fill in the blanks.

“With COP27 around the corner, it is clear there is climate meeting fatigue. But companies and consumers can become the antidote to that. While we don’t write the policies, we have the power to act now and drive real change”, Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath says. “We have a responsibility, and it is up to us to signal and show we’re ready.”

In June 2022, the European Council of Environmental Ministers agreed that by 2035, new cars placed on the EU’s market must be zero-emission vehicles. Similarly, at COP26 in 2021, a small number of automakers joined the ‘Glasgow Declaration on Zero Emission Cars and Vans’ – a commitment to phase out fossil fuel vehicles between 2035 and 2040. Thomas Ingenlath argues that a global ban on ICE vehicles must come sooner: “With just 1.5 percent of the vehicles on the road being electric today, it is clear we are living in an electric vehicle bubble, not an electric vehicle boom. This decade is the most critical we have ever faced when it comes to not overshooting the Paris agreement. We need governments to lead the charge with robust policies on infrastructure and addressing electricity prices so drivers can confidently go electric. Still, more importantly, car makers must act now and not wait for policy changes.”

COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh may soon be over, but the industry’s visions must remain. This is the crucial decade to bend the emission curve.