Hopes of a sustainable future for EU biofuels policy have been dealt a blow following the European Commission’s decision to delay a critical decision on how to account for the impacts of ‘indirect land use change’ (ILUC). Environmental groups BirdLife Europe, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and T&E are calling for the immediate revision of biofuel sustainability criteria to take ILUC impacts into account.
The automotive industry, backed by the governments of Germany, Italy and France has succeeded in severely weakening an EU law setting CO2 standards for new vans.
Plans to increase the use of biofuels in Europe over the next ten years will require up to 69 000 square kilometres of new land worldwide and make climate change worse, a new study reveals today [1].
European carmakers are set to achieve mandatory EU targets for new car CO2 emissions years ahead of time according to a new report published today. One carmaker, Toyota, has almost met its target for the year 2015, six years in advance. The study's findings suggest that carmakers previously exaggerated the time needed to comply with car CO2 limits. Therefore targets now being discussed for vans should be tightened according to Transport & Environment.
Today, in Luxembourg, European Transport Ministers reached an agreement on revised road charging rules for lorries (the Eurovignette directive). Nina Renshaw, deputy director at Transport & Environment (T&E), welcomed the agreement but also stressed that a number of issues remain.
The future inclusion of the aviation sector in Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) may have moved a step closer last week as a result of international talks. But the scheme’s effectiveness will be weaker as a result of European concessions at talks which also ended any hope of credible global measures to cut aviation’s climate impact in the foreseeable future according to Transport & Environment (T&E).
The first global agreement to cut carbon emissions from ships has been blocked by several developing countries. The International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) had been set to approve an Energy Efficient Design Index (EEDI) for ships at its meeting last week in London, following four years of work. The standard, which would only apply to newly built ships, would have been the first globally agreed measure to reduce carbon emissions from international maritime transport.
The European Parliament's environment committee (ENVI) has voted to weaken a proposed law setting fuel efficiency standards for new vans.
Leading environmental law organisation, ClientEarth, is suing both the Council of the European Union and the European Commission over their failure to uphold EU transparency rules. The legal actions come as the European Union threatens to weaken its commitment to openness during a review of its own transparency regulations. The lawsuits indicate that a lack of transparency is becoming endemic among EU institutions.
New vans could be made up to 16% more fuel efficient and 10% cheaper to buy simply by reversing the upward trend in horsepower and using smaller engines according to new research.