Briefing

Cars and vans: how to stop CO2 emissions growing?

October 11, 2017

Road transport is one of the few EU sectors where CO2 emissions continue to grow. To address the problem, the Commission plans to publish its proposals on car and van CO2 standards in November, followed by fuel efficiency standards for trucks in early 2018. Using its new EUTRM model, Transport & Environment has analysed the emission reductions of different ambition levels and their contribution to help achieve the 2030 non-ETS targets required from road transport.

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The key results are:

Even the most ambitious standards analysed only deliver half the reductions required from road transport in 2030, leaving member states with a large CO₂ gap to close with additional policies.
Without intermediary targets in 2025 much CO₂ reduction is delayed, halving the cumulative emissions cuts by 2030 and jeopardising achieving the ESR goals cost-effectively.

Ambitious CO₂ standards of 45% reduction for cars and 40% for vans in 2030, with mandatory targets in 2025, are cost-effective and essential for member states to comply with the Effort Sharing Regulation and for Europe to achieve its 2030 climate goals.

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