Planet
Nobina makes it possible for people to leave their car at home and travel sustainably by public transport. Increasing the use of public transport is the fastest and most obvious way to achieve the EU’s and Sweden’s climate targets, and Nobina can make a real difference here by virtue of our size. We want to take responsibility and contribute in every way we can to influence the shift towards more public transport. Not only through attractive transport solutions, but also by setting ambitious goals that will be validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. Even if travelling together is climate-smart in itself, we must reduce our emissions to maximise our positive effect on the environment and climate. In this respect, we are working purposely to continue to reduce our climate impact.
Link to strategic objective
- Maximise positive effect on environment, travellers and society
Themes
- Energy and emissions
- Chemicals
Key figures
- Carbon dioxide emissions
- Renewable fuel
- Green drivers
Global goal: Responsible consumption and production
The goal aims to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Nobina’s contribution to the goal
Nobina’s greatest contribution is to target 12.2, which concerns achieving the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources by 2030. As part of this effort, we are working to convert the vehicle fleet to 100-percent renewable fuels and training our drivers in energy-efficient driving.
Public transport and climate targets
If Sweden is to contribute towards achieving the SDGs, more people must travel by public transport. The climate impact decreases by just over 550 kg CO2 for each person who leaves their car at home.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport account for one third of Sweden’s total emissions, which according to Sweden’s climate target is to be reduced by at least 70 percent by 2030. To date, emissions have only decreased by 20 percent, which is a long way from the target. Emissions must decline by about one million tonnes per year if we are to achieve the target. First and foremost, emissions from car traffic are falling too slowly, and public transport therefore has a key role to play in achieving the target.
Pioneer in sustainable transition
In concrete terms, this means convincing more people to travel by bus instead of car. The background to this is that public transport is responsible for a relatively small share of carbon dioxide emissions. The Swedish public transport system has already been a pioneer in the sustainable transition of the transport sector. The transition to fossil-free fuel means more than 95 percent of tendered public transport currently operates on renewable fuels. Moreover, the electrification of the bus fleet is in progress in Sweden.
Significant positive effects
If we are to accelerate the transition, public transport must meet the expectations and needs of travellers. Aspects highlighted by travellers include proximity, good traffic information, security, short travel times and that it should be easy to travel by public transport. Estimates by the Swedish Bus and Coach Federation confirm the major positive climate impact from a transition to more public transport.1)
Every person that switches from their own car to public transport for travel to and from work would reduce their average climate impact by 550 kilos of CO2 per year. If 2 percent of car commuting was replaced by bus travel, this would be equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by roughly 20,000 trees every year. In parallel, a shift to more public transport would improve accessibility in cities by reducing congestion and increasing mobility. It is therefore not enough to replace millions of fossil- fuel cars with millions of electric cars if we are also to solve the problems associated with congestion in many of our cities.