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Proposed van emission standards deny EU businesses lower fuel costs and reduced emissions, new report shows

Stricter CO2 target for vans is good for the economy and the environment.
European companies would save €825 a year in lower fuel costs for each van they own, if the European Union sets more stringent 2020 CO2 emission targets for light commercial vehicles. This is the key conclusion of a new report (1) commissioned by Transport & Environment, the sustainable transport campaigners.

NGOs disappointed at new postponement of action to cut shipping emissions

The European Commission has announced today that it will propose, in early 2013, measures to monitor, verify and report on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from shipping. This measure will apply to all ships calling at EU ports and could also be the basis for a global approach towards cleaner shipping. This is an important prerequisite to further action and NGOs Transport & Environment and Seas At Risk call on EU states to proceed quickly to implement this measure and ensure that information on ship efficiency is shared transparently.

A smoking ship

SOS Arctic: New report highlights environmental threat from increased shipping activities

Shipping activities are set to increase as the melting of Arctic ice accelerates. This will lead to increased emissions which will exacerbate Arctic melting and pose a growing threat to the environment in the region. In a new report published today, entitled ‘Troubled Waters’ (1), sustainable transport campaigners T&E sound the alarm making recommendations on how to reduce the impact of shipping in the Arctic and urging the EU to take serious action to ensure the unique Arctic ecosystem survives.

Troubled Waters - How to protect the Arctic from the growing impact of shipping

As the decline of Arctic sea-ice continues, the prospect of an ice-free Arctic ocean in the near future draws closer. Arctic melting is seen by industry and some governments as an opportunity to develop human and exploitative activities in the region (oil and gas production, mining, shipping, tourism). But while Arctic melting is surely an effect of climate change, it is imperative that it does not become another cause of climate change. This vicious circle threatening the Arctic and the global ecosystems needs to be broken.

Finally the recognition – but still lots of difficult questions

Opinion by Jos Dings - T&E directorAfter almost two years of delay, it now seems that the European Commission is indeed going to do something about indirect land-use change caused by growing crops for biofuels. And a delay it has been. Faithful readers of the Bulletin must have noted our regular coverage of the true avalanche of reports, studies and positions by generally very cautious bodies like the OECD and the FAO, pointing out the big risks and dangers of biofuels if handled without proper care.

A shipping route through troubled waters?

The melting ice of the Arctic region has made the idea of a shipping route through the North Pole an increasingly realistic possibility, but this has the potential to create massive environmental problems. A group of NGOs, including T&E, has therefore put together a report highlighting the potential impact of an increase in shipping in the Arctic region.

ICAO: Fighting for relevance

Will ICAO be able to rise to the challenge of approving a global measure to cut GHG emissions from aircraft? Will such a global measure be convincing enough for the US, China and the other 26 countries who are fiercely opposing the EU ETS? And will the EU manage to keep a firm stand on its emission trading scheme? T&E programme manager on aviation, Bill Hemmings, answers some of these questions in this post.

Industry lobbying continues to hold Commission back

The current Commission is on track to have one of the worst-ever environmental records of any EU administration. That is the view of the group of 10 Brussels-based environmental NGOs (‘Green 10’), whose mid-term assessment of José Manuel Barroso’s second Commission says it would not win any medals and is acting to protect the environment even less than his first Commission (2005-09).

The real story behind the latest EEA emissions figures (part 2)

This blog is part 2 of an analysis of 20 years of CO2 emission trends in transport (1990-2010) as recently published by the European Environment Agency. The first blog focused on overall trends, and on aviation and shipping. In this post Jos Dings, T&E director, looks into individual countries’ performance, in particular when set next to their economic performance, and challenges the common belief that, after all, transport emissions are an almost inevitable by-product of economic growth.

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