New agreements on urban deliveries without CO2 emission

No more exhaust fumes from lorries or commercial vans in the city. To achieve this goal, municipalities, stakeholders from the transport sector, and State Secretary Van Veldhoven will today be signing the urban logistics implementation agenda. They will set down agreements on entirely clean urban provisioning, and on cities enabling transporters and entrepreneurs to do their jobs properly. Across the entire nation, cities will be implementing zero emission zones with effect from 2025, in pursuit of emission-free deliveries. Grants will be available to help entrepreneurs switch to clean delivery vans or lorries. Cities will thus become healthier and more comfortable places in which to live and work, whilst reducing the emission of harmful gases and particles.

State Secretary Van Veldhoven (Infrastructure and Water Management): ‘Now that we are spending more time at home, we are noticing the large number of delivery vans and lorries driving through the cities. The agreements we are setting down today will ensure that it will be a matter of course that within a few years, supermarket shelves will be stocked, waste will be collected, and packages will arrive on time, yet without any exhaust fumes and CO2 emissions. I find it quite inspiring to join forces with urban authorities and the transport sector in order to achieve this goal. This is The Netherlands – Transport Country at its best.’

Zero emission zones for clean and healthy cities

Fourteen cities have already officially announced that they will be implementing zero emission zones in 2025. Their number is expected to rise to some thirty by this summer, spread across the whole of the Netherlands. In concrete terms, this means that in the long run, these cities will only accommodate fully emission-free delivery vans and lorries.
One of the fourteen cities that has already decided on implementing a zero emission zone in 2025 is Tilburg. Alderman Oscar Dusschooten: ‘We are committed to a sustainable and clean city. To achieve this goal, the city council is pursuing opportunities and options. Examples include a city-wide network of charging stations by 2025 and the ambition to implement a zero emission zone for logistic transport within the Ring roads on 1 January 2025. Such initiatives are imperative to improve air quality, plus they tie in well with our pursuit of raising awareness. Because the transport of the future must be emission-free, sustainable, and clean.’

Collaboration with logistics entrepreneurs

A key goal of the agreements is to ensure that entrepreneurs and transporters can continue to do their jobs properly in the city. Transparent agreements have been set down that will apply to all the zero emission zones, aimed at rendering the transition feasible and affordable, including for small businesses. Municipalities are required to observe a minimum of four years notice when intending to implement such zones. In addition, over the next few years, the Cabinet will make purchasing or leasing clean delivery vans or lorries more attractive. Today, the subsidy scheme for clean delivery vans was finalised. With effect from 15 March, entrepreneurs may apply for a grant of up to 5000 euros when purchasing or leasing such a van. Furthermore, additional attention will be paid to small businesses in the years ahead, to help them make the switch. Moreover, last Friday Ms Van Veldhoven announced that the subsidy desk for clean lorries will also open in March. In collaboration with grid managers, provincial and municipal authorities are making every effort to provide sufficient charging stations at locations where they are needed. When it comes to the construction of charging stations, the Netherlands is taking the lead in Europe.

Sector organisations, entrepreneur organisations, and transporters are closely involved in the implementation of the urban logistics agenda. Elisabeth Post, President of the Dutch Association for Transport and Logistics: ‘By signing the implementation agenda, we are taking a key step towards emission-free urban logistics. For transport entrepreneurs, it is important that the transition to emission-free urban logistics should be realistic and feasible. That is why we are eager to consider the matter from a practical perspective. Where are charging stations required? And how can we efficiently join forces, for example, by combining goods on the outskirts of the city? Our sector is an ambitious one, but we are not making the switch to emission-free urban logistics by ourselves. That is why collaboration with all the parties involved is essential.’

Climate Agreement

The Climate Agreement sets out that by 2025, a minimum of thirty cities must have implemented a zero emission zone for urban logistics. Ergo, the realisation of this Climate Agreement ambition is within reach. This constitutes an important step towards fully emission-free road traffic by 2050. By 2030, implementing such zero emission zones will save approximately 1 megaton of CO2 per annum, which compares to the total annual emission from natural gas consumption by all the households in The Hague and Rotterdam combined. In addition, the air will be much cleaner. In the cities, traffic is the main source of air pollution, air that people breathe directly. The Netherlands is the first country in the world to enable cities to implement zero emission zones.