Montreal will host the Michelin Challenge Bibendum in 2017

The Michelin Challenge Bibendum, which is becoming Movin'on, the global summit for sustainable mobility, will be held in Montreal in June 2017.

LAVAL, QC, Dec. 16, 2016 /CNW/ - After a memorable event in Chengdu in 2014, the next global get-together on sustainable mobility will be held in Montreal, Canada's largest metropolis, on June 13, 14 and 15, 2017.

Since 1992 and the release of the first fuel-efficient tire, Michelin has reaffirmed its vision of effective, sustainable mobility with the goal of helping people and goods to move about more efficiently. At the COP21 conference in November 2015, Michelin pledged to reduce the carbon footprint of its tires 20% by 2030. In addition to Company-level initiatives, Michelin also wants to pursue the dialogue with other stakeholders in order to reinvent a form of mobility that is safe, connected and responsible.

In 2017, we want to launch a new, even more open dynamic that will permit large and small companies as well as start-ups, scientific institutions and NGOs to offer sustainable mobility solutions, in particular to cities, which will be home to the vast majority of the world's population.

Powered by this vision, we have chosen Montreal as a partner and host city for the next Movin'on, the global sustainable mobility summit, which will thus open up to a new ecosystem of public and private players that want to be part of the adventure. Michelin is leading this new phase, whose success will depend on the collective federated around the project.

"Movin'on is more than just a name change; it's a call to action," says Jean-Dominique SENARD, Chief Executive Officer of the Michelin Group. "Joining forces so that together we can invent, improve and project ourselves into tomorrow's world of transportation is the key point. Montreal is a city that has pioneered in sustainable urban mobility and in a few months it will host a unique platform for demonstrating prototypes and innovations that support mobility. Let's transform the transportation industry by soliciting the ingenuity of researchers, the agility of start-up creators and the technological power of large companies. I want this international event to create a roadmap that traces a tangible way to achieve the sustainable mobility of the future and that we can show to public authorities." 

"Montreal, with its commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2020 compared with 1990 and its tangible initiatives to electrify transportation, is positioned as a leader in the area of sustainable, effective mobility," says Denis CODERRE, mayor of Montreal and president of Metropolis. "Hosting the 2017 Michelin Challenge Bibendum, now called Movin'on, the global sustainable mobility summit, recognizes the city's efforts to create the society of the future. This global sustainable mobility summit, which will be held in Montreal, will provide an opportunity to showcase the city's innovations and to discuss them with the world's leaders in the field."

In addition, Michelin is joining with C2, the Montreal-based company, as an organizing partner for Movin'on, the global sustainable mobility summit. "C2 is proud to be a partner to this global event," says Richard St-Pierre, president of C2. "This project will enable us, once again, to demonstrate the power of creativity to transform and reinvent industries by encouraging innovation through the collision of ideas. We also want to emphasize the key role that Tourism Montreal played in attracting this event to Montreal."

Michelin is committed to improving the mobility of its customers over the long term. A leader in the tire industry, Michelin designs, manufactures and distributes tires that are closely adapted to the needs and usage conditions as well as services and other solutions that make mobility more efficient. Michelin also provides offerings that enable its customers to experience unique moments during their trips and travels. In addition, Michelin has developed high-tech materials for manufacturing companies in the mobility sector. Headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, Michelin is present in 171 countries, has 111,700 employees and operates 68 plants in 17 countries that together produced 184 million tires in 2015 (www.michelin.com).

The City of Montreal 
At the 21st UN Conference on Climate Change (COP21), Michel stood out as an innovative city that is focused on new technologies and on electrifying its transportation systems. The fight against climate change is a societal choice that Montreal fully supports. Cities and metropolitan areas are increasingly asked to play a leading role in this fight. Through a range of initiatives, Montreal has served as a model for other cities around the world. Its transportation electrification strategy for 2016-2020 illustrates the efforts that the city wants to showcase to ensure a healthy environment and a promising future.

In addition to tangible actions led by the City, such as the deployment of a network of recharging stations, Montreal intends to play the role of facilitator for "green" companies with the goal of creating an environment that is favorable to innovation as well as to sustainable economic development. Montreal is also setting the example by electrifying its own fleet of service vehicles.

In addition to objectives managed by the City's administration, Montreal favors getting public and private partners involved in this transportation electrification effort. We should emphasize the participation of the Montreal Transportation Company, which is pursuing its objective to electrify its mass transportation network as well as the Metropolitan Electrical Network project of the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, which will revolutionize mobility in the Montreal metropolitan area. The City is also encouraging providers of self-service vehicles to gradually upgrade their fleet to electric vehicles, a project fully in line with the municipal government's deployment of a network of recharging stations.

On December 1, the City of Montreal became a member of the prestigious C40 network, which brings together 90 metropolitan areas that are leaders in the search for concerted, tangible solutions in the area of climate change.

About C2
C2 is committed to exploring the "commerce & creativity" dynamic and its potential for reinventing the business world. Thanks to a collaborative environment specially designed to cause collisions and support the emergence of new ideas, C2 brings together leaders, academics, entrepreneurs and artists from a range of industries with the goal of getting them to question their viewpoints and to explore new possibilities. Imagined by Sid Lee in collaboration with the Cirque du Soleil, C2'sw key Montreal event, with its three days of conferences, workshops, brainstorming sessions, meetings, performances and festivities, has been variously described as "the Davos of Creativity (L'Obs) and "a conference that is unique in its genre" (Harvard Business Review).

SOURCE Michelin Canada

Michelin Media Relations in Laval [phone]; in Paris [phone]; City of Montreal Media Relations [phone]; C2 Media Relations [phone]