• Car CO2 targets cleared by environment committee

    A new law to cut carbon emissions from new cars and vans by 15% in 2025 and 37.5% (vans 31%) in 2030, compared to 2021 levels, was today approved by the European Parliament’s environment committee. The European federation of transport NGOs, Transport & Environment (T&E), said that while the targets are an improvement on the European Commission’s weak original proposal, they fall well below what’s needed to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement – which would require the last car with an engine to be sold by the early 2030s.

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    The law’s 15% electric vehicle sales benchmark in 2025 – to encourage the sale of more zero and low-emission vehicles – is a welcome step but is less ambitious than what some carmakers, such as Volkswagen, have already committed to. T&E said that carmakers now need to adhere to the law in good faith and not abuse the double-counting provisions agreed at the last minute to boost sales in less developed markets.[1]

    Julia Poliscanova, clean vehicles manager, said: “You know that the electric vehicle target for 2025 lacks ambition when Volkswagen, Volvo and others are already committing to go further. The challenge now is to accelerate the transition to electromobility beyond these minimum requirements and deliver the cleaner air, lower fuel bills and future-proof jobs EU citizens demand.”

    Note to editors:

    [1] While there is a cap on the double counting – towards CO2 reduction targets – of plug-in cars sold in Central and Eastern Europe at 5% of new car sales in those countries, there remains a risk of gaming by carmakers registering zero and low-emission vehicles in one country and selling them on in another.