The data officially concerns only France, but it makes us think: after air transport, the second cause of the increase in CO2 emissions in the last ten years it's the SUVs. Therefore, for a greener and more sustainable future, it is not enough to think of buying an electric car: in the meantime, according to the appeal launched by WWF France, avoid buying particularly polluting and climate-changing cars. The data released by the environmental association speak for themselves: a sport utility vehicle consumes 15% more than a standard car and emits 20% more carbon dioxide, contributing to global warming.
And yet, in recent years it has become the type of car by far preferred by the French (and perhaps not only by them): the sales of "big cars" have increased sevenfold in the last decade and represent 40% of new vehicles purchased in the period, in France. Every year, according to the WWF, an average car weighs 10 kg more: "In the last 50 years, vehicles have increased in weight by 500 kg", denounces the organization, recalling that this means that a modern car, in particular the SUV needs much more fuel to operate.
In its campaign, the WWF also claims that an SUV is also much more expensive (+40%, but we realized this...) and even more dangerous, for oneself and for others: a driver of a sports car is 10% more likely to have an accident, while the risk of being run over by a pedestrian is twice as high as in a traditional car, so to speak. "The pace of sales of these cars", insists the WWF, "is absolutely incompatible with the achievement of the 2030 decarbonisation objectives", of which France, moreover, often champions.
The future is light mobility: electric or hybrid cars, shared means of transport, scooters, bicycles or, at the very least, "normal" cars. But not SUVs.
