As their impact on the lives and very future of all organisms on Earth unfolds, climate change and global warming pose existential risks to us all and are, arguably, the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Against this backdrop, radically reducing global CO2 emissions is an absolute necessity.
The transport sector has an important role to play in this. It must take effective action and make fast progress towards climate neutrality. This is because the sector accounts for some 20% of CO2 emissions, making it Germany's third-largest source of greenhouse gases after energy and industry. Within the transport business, large lorries account for around a quarter of emissions.
This is where DB Cargo comes in. The simple fact is that trains are one of the most environmentally friendly ways of transporting goods from A to B. Today, a freight train generates 80% to 100% less CO2 than its road transport equivalent. On top of that, it can move as much cargo as 52 lorries combined. This takes pressure off the environment, reduces CO2 emissions and relieves overcrowded roads.
7 million tonnes of CO2 less every year
DB Cargo is setting a course for a sustainable future. We already run 3,600 trains a day, which means some 90,000 fewer lorries on the road and the elimination of seven million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. But this is just the beginning. The DB Group has very clear goals in mind: we want to become climate neutral by 2040 and achieve a fully balanced CO2 account.
Making DB Cargo green
This is the subject of our film, "Global Vision 2045". It provides a detailed portrait of us as a rail freight company along with information about our role as leaders in sustainability. The video features interviews with several figures from DB Cargo. We offer insights and explanations about how we will achieve our decarbonisation goals, what challenges we have to overcome and where exactly we are taking action. Our CEO Dr Sigrid Nikutta reaffirms our goals. See for yourself here:
The film is available on the website of the international news agency Reuters (reuters.com) as well as on the website of the initiative "Global Vision 2045" (vision2045.com). On its communication platform vision2045.com, TBD Media's Global Vision Initiative summarises various topics related to the world climate conferences and presents a wide range of documentary films by companies on how to achieve the climate protection goals – hosted and distributed by the international news agency Reuters.