do you have an off road vehicle Then global warming is because of you

That’s not what we say, that’s what the International Energy Agency (IEA) says. All SUVs together emitted almost 1 billion tons of CO2 in 2022. If they were a country, they would be the sixth most polluting country in the world.

The IEA is concerned about the ever-growing popularity of SUVs. There are about 330 million of them on earth. They are usually larger and heavier than “normal” cars and consume 20 percent more fuel on average.

Strong global increase in SUV sales

Only 20 percent of all new cars worldwide in 2012 were SUVs. This proportion has now risen to 46 percent. About a third of the increasing demand for oil in 2022 was due to rising SUV sales, according to the IEA.

Every sixth new SUV is electric

About one in six new SUVs is fully electric, so that’s a positive. “However,” writes the IEA, “they need larger batteries and are therefore putting more pressure on battery production and raw material supplies.”

Electric vehicle sales are booming. About 10 million were shipped worldwide last year. At the same time, automakers sold around 29 million non-electric SUVs.

Car brands stop with small models

“Brands are stopping at smaller models because margins have gotten too small,” European organization Transport & Environment told The Guardian. “BMW, Stellantis and VW have signaled their intention to focus on larger premium models.”

“The European Union should ensure that small cars do not disappear. The tax on big cars needs to be increased. We need to boost development and sales of entry-level compact electric vehicles with subsidies.”

In the Netherlands also semi-new cars

The Netherlands keeps up with global developments. In 2022 we sold 312,129 new cars, of which 144,064 were SUVs: exactly 46 percent. This proportion is likely to be significantly higher this year.