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‘Entrepreneurs who are not focused on sustainability will not be around in five years’ time’
How can I highlight sustainability within my company? Nowadays, that is a question that every entrepreneur must ask him or herself. Roland Maes (CEO’s 4 Climate) and Stefan Delaet (KBC Autolease) share their visions on sustainable business and mobility in our podcast series ‘Knappe Knoppen’.
Tekst: Sarie Rooms
How do you try to reinforce the importance of sustainable business practices?
Maes: ‘With CEO’s 4 Climate, we would like to integrate sustainability in our business processes. By networking and creating partnerships, we can share our story with others and involve as many other sectors as possible in the sustainability story. If you are not focused on sustainability, you will not be around in five years’ time.’
What is the most important step when it comes to being greener in business?
Delaet:‘I always talk about the bridge to climate-aware mobility. The federal government recently drew up a new agreement to electrify the full lorry fleet by 2026. Economically, the lorry fleet is the most important when it comes to sustainability because this fleet is used for professional purposes.’
We must all work together in order to resolve the issue.
Roland Maes
Are we structurally ready for a stream of electric vehicles on our roads?
Delaet:‘The trend nowadays is that 60% charge their batteries at home, 30% at work and 10% while out and about. The problem with respect to infrastructure will be systematically resolved. Electrification is an ecosystem in which various stakeholders, i.e. government, network managers, existing companies, start-ups, etc., all work together. Soon, it will be possible to use bidirectional charging or convert existing infrastructure, such as lamp posts, into charging points.’
Maes:’We must all work together in order to resolve the issue. CEO’s 4 Climate has therefore launched the spin-off ‘SIMS’ (Sustainable Innovative Mobility Solutions). This platform is fed with data on driver behaviour from cars. All possible participants that are related to mobility could help to supply the platform. Companies who wish to increase sustainability among their fleet will thus be able to benefit and both employers and employees will be able to focus on a higher goal, i.e. an improved environment.’
Delaet: ‘Affordability, of course, is a hot-topic and support is certainly required for the start of the electrification process. But, with a clear plan, a market will be created rapidly and this will allow the combination of increasing demand and lower costs over a period of three years to create a good business case, which requires minimum subsidisation and which works for all those concerned, particularly the users.’
Listen to the full conversation with Roland Maes and Stefan Delaet in our podcast series ‘Knappe Koppen’.
