Transport is Europe’s biggest source of carbon emissions, contributing 27% to the EU’s total CO2 emissions, with cars and vans representing more than two thirds of these, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA). Transport is the only sector in which emissions have grown since 1990, contributing to the increase in the EU’s overall emissions in 2015. Transport related emissions further increased in 2016 and in 2017 EU oil consumption – a good proxy for transport CO2 – increased at its fastest pace since 2001
The biggest failure of the current car CO2 has been the failure to deliver emissions reductions on the road. Whilst new car CO2 emissions measured using the obsolete laboratory test (NEDC) have fallen by 31% since 2000, on the road the reduction is just, 11%. The gap between test and real-world performance has leapt from 9 to 42% weakening the regulation, increasing CO2 emissions and raising fuel bills for drivers. The underlying issue was basing the regulation on laboratory tests. Whilst the new WLTP addresses some loopholes, its introduction also creates new flexibilities that the car industry are planning to exploit to undermine both the current regulation to 2020/1 and proposed future regulations for 2025/30.
The pressure of civil society forced the European Commission to rethink its approach on investor-state-dispute-settlement (ISDS), resulting in the reformed investment court system (ICS), and the current multilateral investment court (MIC). The purported added value of the MIC is to render investment protection more transparent and accountable, and put an end to the controversial ISDS. This briefing outlines T&E's position on MIC.
Strengthening testing of cars after they have been sold and are on the road, in-service conformity testing, is an essential part of cleaning up vehicle emissions and ensuring cars work on the road as they do in the test. This letter outlines how T&E would like to strengthen proposals from the European Commission that are soon to be agreed with member states.
As the rule book for the Paris Agreement is finalised, T&E produces a paper which proposes the full inclusion of emissions from international shipping and aviation in national climate targets, known under the Paris Agreement as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). States should pursue decarbonisation of these sectors through a combination of measures adopted at international and national level.