&nbsp;Deutsche Post&nbsp;DHL&nbsp;Group's&nbsp;StreetScooter&nbsp;electric&nbsp;vehicle unit will enter the&nbsp;US&nbsp;market next year as&nbsp;delivery&nbsp;firms and municipalities work to cut greenhouse gas&nbsp;emissions.

DHL&nbsp;will&nbsp;debut&nbsp;StreetScooter's&nbsp;zero-emission&nbsp;Work L&nbsp;delivery&nbsp;van in two urban&nbsp;US markets, one on each coast, starting in Spring 2020, the companies said. They did not specify which markets would be the first.

Full deployment could come in 2022 and 2023, said Ulrich Stuhec, StreetScooter's chief technology officer, who joined the company from Ford Motor Co in October.

Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Tokyo and 30 other&nbsp;cities&nbsp;around the globe have been working to establish&nbsp;zero-emission&nbsp;zones by 2030. Those&nbsp;cities&nbsp;hope to curb accumulating greenhouse gases that contribute to extreme weather, higher temperatures, and rising sea levels, which have steep economic, environmental and human costs.

The transportation industry - which includes fossil-fuel-burning ships, trains, trucks, and planes - accounted for 14 per cent&nbsp;of global greenhouse gas&nbsp;emissions in 2010, according to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Over the last three years,&nbsp;DHL&nbsp;has kicked off "CO2-free last-mile&nbsp;delivery" efforts with German&nbsp;cities&nbsp;like Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich.

Roughly 10,000 of the 12,000 StreetScooter&nbsp;electric&nbsp;vehicles on the road make&nbsp;DHL&nbsp;deliveries. They operate in Amsterdam, Vienna, and&nbsp;cities&nbsp;around Germany - saving roughly 36,000 metric tons of CO2 per truck each year, StreetScooter said.

"We have the most experience on the road while others are still working on their first prototypes," StreetScooter's Stuhec said in a recent interview.&nbsp;

Up-and-coming&nbsp;delivery&nbsp;competitor Amazon.com Inc in September gave the&nbsp;electric&nbsp;vehicle industry a jolt with its plan to order 100,000&nbsp;electric&nbsp;delivery&nbsp;vans&nbsp;from Rivian Automotive LLC, a company it funds. The first&nbsp;vans&nbsp;should hit streets in 2021. Meanwhile,<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/amazon-files-lawsuit-contesting-pentagons-10-billion-cloud-contract-to-microsoft-263976"> Amazon </a>said it's&nbsp;delivery&nbsp;partners are using around 200&nbsp;electric&nbsp;vehicles.

United Parcel Service Inc has 1,000&nbsp;electric&nbsp;and hybrid&nbsp;electric&nbsp;vehicles in its fleet, and<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/fedex-to-end-amazon-contract-for-fedex-express-plane-service-225431"> FedEx Corp</a>&nbsp;last year announced plans to deploy 1,000&nbsp;electric&nbsp;vehicles in California.

DHL&nbsp;fully acquired StreetScooter in 2014. The unprofitable subsidiary is seeking new investors and customers to further ramp production. Current partners include the United Kingdom's Milk &amp; More, which ordered 200 trucks, and Japanese&nbsp;delivery&nbsp;firm <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/missing-japanese-boy-found-alive-unharmed-190">Yamato</a>, which has started to deploy 500 planned vehicles.

In September, StreetScooter cracked the world's biggest&nbsp;electric&nbsp;vehicle market - signing a memorandum of understanding with Chinese carmaker Chery Automobile Co&nbsp;to begin&nbsp;electric&nbsp;van production in 2021.

Deutsche Post DHL Group's StreetScooter electric vehicle unit will enter the US market next year as delivery firms and municipalities work to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Deutsche Post DHL Group's StreetScooter electric vehicle unit will enter the US market next year as delivery firms and municipalities work to cut greenhouse gas emissions. DHL will debut StreetScooter's zero-emission Work L delivery van in two urban US markets, one on each coast, starting in Spring 2020, the companies said. They did not specify which markets would be the first. Full deployment could come in 2022 and 2023, said Ulrich Stuhec, StreetScooter's chief technology officer, who joined the company from Ford Motor Co in October. Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Tokyo and 30 other cities around the globe have been working to establish zero-emission zones by 2030. Those cities hope to curb accumulating greenhouse gases that contribute to extreme weather, higher temperatures, and rising sea levels, which have steep economic, environmental and human costs. The transportation industry - which includes fossil-fuel-burning ships, trains, trucks, and planes - accounted for 14 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2010, according to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Over the last three years, DHL has kicked off "CO2-free last-mile delivery" efforts with German cities like Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich. Roughly 10,000 of the 12,000 StreetScooter electric vehicles on the road make DHL deliveries. They operate in Amsterdam, Vienna, and cities around Germany - saving roughly 36,000 metric tons of CO2 per truck each year, StreetScooter said. "We have the most experience on the road while others are still working on their first prototypes," StreetScooter's Stuhec said in a recent interview. Up-and-coming delivery competitor Amazon.com Inc in September gave the electric vehicle industry a jolt with its plan to order 100,000 electric delivery vans from Rivian Automotive LLC, a company it funds. The first vans should hit streets in 2021. Meanwhile, Amazon said it's delivery partners are using around 200 electric vehicles. United Parcel Service Inc has 1,000 electric and hybrid electric vehicles in its fleet, and FedEx Corp last year announced plans to deploy 1,000 electric vehicles in California. DHL fully acquired StreetScooter in 2014. The unprofitable subsidiary is seeking new investors and customers to further ramp production. Current partners include the United Kingdom's Milk & More, which ordered 200 trucks, and Japanese delivery firm Yamato, which has started to deploy 500 planned vehicles. In September, StreetScooter cracked the world's biggest electric vehicle market - signing a memorandum of understanding with Chinese carmaker Chery Automobile Co to begin electric van production in 2021.

DHL to debut zero-emission electric delivery vans in US cities

Fires in Brazil's <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/brazils-burning-ban-takes-effect-as-amazon-fires-rage-246490">Amazon rainforest</a> have receded slightly since President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/bolsonaros-son-heads-to-washington-to-thank-trump-for-amazon-support-246511">Jair Bolsonaro</a> sent in the military to help battle the blazes, but international fallout accelerated as a major shoemaker said it would not buy supplies from Brazil.

Brazil has registered 2,696 fires in the Amazon in the five days since Saturday, when the military began on-the-ground firefighting efforts, according to data from Brazil's space research agency INPE. That is down 31% from the previous five days when 3,917 fires were registered before the military response.

The thousands of fires tearing through the Amazon have spawned an international crisis for Brazil, with public protests and world leaders voicing concern that Bolsonaro's government is doing too little to protect the world's largest tropical rainforest. After several days of criticism, Bolsonaro decided to send in the military to support firefighting efforts.

This year's surge in fires, which INPE says is the worst since 2010, also raises fears of companies stepping back from Brazil amid adverse publicity surrounding the burning forest and the prospect of international sanctions.

On Thursday, the owner of shoe and apparel brands including Timberland, Vans and the North Face took the most concrete corporate move yet in response to the fires. VF Corp&nbsp;will no longer buy Brazilian leather, it said in a statement.

VF said it would resume buying Brazilian leather when "we have the confidence and assurance that the materials used in our products do not contribute to environmental harm in the country."

The Greensboro, North Carolina-based company, whose other brands include Dickies, Smartwool and JanSport, said it is no longer able to assure that leather from Brazilian suppliers meets this commitment.

The company did not respond to questions regarding the value of its Brazilian leather imports or possible markets it might use for alternative supply.

According to the Center for the Brazilian Tanning Industry, the main leather trade group in Brazil, the country exported $1.44 billion of bovine leather in 2018. Its largest export markets were the United States, China and Italy, which together consumed about 60% of Brazilian leather exports in 2018.

Elsewhere, Norway has urged several of its companies to ensure they do not contribute to Amazon deforestation, including oil firm Equinor ASA, fertilizer-maker Yara International ASA and aluminum producer Norsk Hydro ASA.

The fires have also led to heightened scrutiny of Brazilian agriculture, one of the country's main economic engines.

Responding to concerns, soy crusher industry group Abiove released data it said shows that production of the oilseeds is not contributing to the fires.

The 10 towns in the Amazon reporting the most fires have only 30,000 hectares of soy planted, a negligible amount in Brazil's overall soy trade, Abiove said. Brazil's total planted soy area is 36 million hectares.

Still, more than half of the plantings were in the municipality of Novo Progresso in the Amazonian state of Pará. That town was the epicentre of the so-called Fire Day earlier this month which allegedly called on people to set fires to clear land for agriculture and cattle grazing - a claim prosecutors are still investigating.

Environmentalists claim that fires were set by real estate speculators and ranchers, as it is common practice to clear land for agricultural use.

Bolsonaro has insisted fires are under control and issued a decree on Thursday banning fires from being set across the country for 60 days.

On Thursday, he thanked US&nbsp;President Donald Trump for his support in the Group of Seven's discussion of the Amazon region at last weekend's summit in France of the world's wealthiest nations. 
&nbsp;

Fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest have receded slightly since President Jair Bolsonaro sent in the military to help battle the blazes, but international fallout accelerated as a major shoemaker said it would not buy supplies from Brazil.

Fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest have receded slightly since President Jair Bolsonaro sent in the military to help battle the blazes, but international fallout accelerated as a major shoemaker said it would not buy supplies from Brazil. Brazil has registered 2,696 fires in the Amazon in the five days since Saturday, when the military began on-the-ground firefighting efforts, according to data from Brazil's space research agency INPE. That is down 31% from the previous five days when 3,917 fires were registered before the military response. The thousands of fires tearing through the Amazon have spawned an international crisis for Brazil, with public protests and world leaders voicing concern that Bolsonaro's government is doing too little to protect the world's largest tropical rainforest. After several days of criticism, Bolsonaro decided to send in the military to support firefighting efforts. This year's surge in fires, which INPE says is the worst since 2010, also raises fears of companies stepping back from Brazil amid adverse publicity surrounding the burning forest and the prospect of international sanctions. On Thursday, the owner of shoe and apparel brands including Timberland, Vans and the North Face took the most concrete corporate move yet in response to the fires. VF Corp will no longer buy Brazilian leather, it said in a statement. VF said it would resume buying Brazilian leather when "we have the confidence and assurance that the materials used in our products do not contribute to environmental harm in the country." The Greensboro, North Carolina-based company, whose other brands include Dickies, Smartwool and JanSport, said it is no longer able to assure that leather from Brazilian suppliers meets this commitment. The company did not respond to questions regarding the value of its Brazilian leather imports or possible markets it might use for alternative supply. According to the Center for the Brazilian Tanning Industry, the main leather trade group in Brazil, the country exported $1.44 billion of bovine leather in 2018. Its largest export markets were the United States, China and Italy, which together consumed about 60% of Brazilian leather exports in 2018. Elsewhere, Norway has urged several of its companies to ensure they do not contribute to Amazon deforestation, including oil firm Equinor ASA, fertilizer-maker Yara International ASA and aluminum producer Norsk Hydro ASA. The fires have also led to heightened scrutiny of Brazilian agriculture, one of the country's main economic engines. Responding to concerns, soy crusher industry group Abiove released data it said shows that production of the oilseeds is not contributing to the fires. The 10 towns in the Amazon reporting the most fires have only 30,000 hectares of soy planted, a negligible amount in Brazil's overall soy trade, Abiove said. Brazil's total planted soy area is 36 million hectares. Still, more than half of the plantings were in the municipality of Novo Progresso in the Amazonian state of Pará. That town was the epicentre of the so-called Fire Day earlier this month which allegedly called on people to set fires to clear land for agriculture and cattle grazing - a claim prosecutors are still investigating. Environmentalists claim that fires were set by real estate speculators and ranchers, as it is common practice to clear land for agricultural use. Bolsonaro has insisted fires are under control and issued a decree on Thursday banning fires from being set across the country for 60 days. On Thursday, he thanked US President Donald Trump for his support in the Group of Seven's discussion of the Amazon region at last weekend's summit in France of the world's wealthiest nations.

In response to Amazon wildfire, owner of Timberland, Vans says will not buy Brazilian leather

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