Michelin Challenge Bibendum
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The stakes
Mobility is key to economic development but current mobility trends are generally agreed to be unsustainable. Technology and its many advances, which have been taking place in recent decades, will address some of the sustainable mobility issues – reduction of CO2 emissions and global warming, soaring energy demands, lowering local pollution, road safety and traffic congestion – but the stakeholders of the transport sector will have to look well beyond technology to create a degree of societal commitment and involvement and promote and forge coordinated policies across the ranks of the multiple players of this sector. The industry is facing a profound transformation in the face of a disruptive future.
Overlaps and interconnections make for a complex interplay between the various stakes and it is somewhat of a conundrum as we know that population growth makes for greater economic activity. An increase in economic activity creates greater wealth and higher demand for energy. Higher energy consumption based on fossil fuels, results in higher CO2 emissions. Higher levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contribute to global warming and subsequent climate change.
But mobility is not solely about vehicles; it is also about infrastructure, town planning, communications technology, access to resources and energy, facilitation of trade, health care and quality of life. Managing mobility and its attendant conundrum may prove to be an opportunity for business and the planet.
The perspectives
Over the past quarter of a century the debate has raged and now scientific and political opinions converge, public awareness has been raised. But the world is changing fast and the good intentions have been far outpaced by the speed and magnitude of the issues at stake. We may be nearing the edge of our comfort zone. Crisis may provide the impetus for change as the energy and car industries square up to the stakes in a fast changing world. Can the cross-fertilisation from other sectors such as software, electronics and materials induce transformation or even disruptive change?
From the very first edition of Challenge Bibendum it became clear that there was to be no single solution but rather a wide panoply of options to address the issues of making road mobility sustainable:
• More energy efficient
• Cleaner
• Carbon neutral
• Safer
• Freer flowing
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