The EU has long been a global force for cleaner transport. As a first mover, its standards have not only benefited citizens but given European industry a huge advantage by setting examples in transport regulation that are often replicated by emerging markets. Recently, there have been moves to slow down or stop this trend – through trade deals like CETA, Mercosur, Indonesia, (or the dormant TTIP) as well as  EU initiatives such as ‘REFIT’ and the Better Regulation agenda. We campaign to retain and, where possible, improve Europe’s ability, and willingness, to legislate for the common good in general, and for more sustainable transport in particular.

Road transport is now the largest and growing source of CO2 emissions in Europe, accounting for one-fifth of all emissions. One of the most important steps Europe can take to save drivers money, combat climate change, and create high-tech jobs is to require carmakers to produce more efficient, low and zero-emission vehicles. In 2009 and 2014 respectively, the EU introduced legally-binding CO2 standards, for the first time setting a goal that, on average, new cars sold in Europe in 2015 should emit 130 grammes of CO2 per kilometre, and 95gCO2/km in 2021. The first target was weak and met early, and most carmakers are also on track to meet the 2021 goal. Half the improvement, however, was not achieved in the real world but resulted from carmakers manipulating the obsolete NEDC test that has been replaced in September 2017 with a better laboratory cycle, the World Light Duty Test Procedure (WLTP).

The way we test cars and trucks in Europe is obsolete and opaque. This is the root cause of the Dieselgate scandal in which Volkswagen was caught cheating tests for air pollutant emissions. First, there’s an obsolete laboratory test for emissions that has not changed since the 1990s and is easy to manipulate and cheat with today’s more advanced IT technology. Then there’s an opaque so-called “type approval” system whereby new vehicles and automotive components are tested to ensure they comply with EU safety and environmental rules. Once approved these may be sold without restrictions throughout the EU single market.

To get to a sustainable low-carbon economy by 2050, Europe needs to cut emissions from transport by at least 60% compared to 1990: that’s a cut of 70% compared to today’s emissions. This presents a very serious challenge, in particular for freight, where increasing truck traffic, modal shift from rail to road, and stagnating lorry fuel economy have dominated the last two decades.

Shipping is a growing source of transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and is also a major source of air pollution, causing health problems, acid rain and eutrophication. Like aviation, the sector's international emissions were not explicitly mentioned in the Paris agreement. The United Nations’ global shipping body, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), needs to act now while the EU in parallel needs to include shipping in its 2030 reduction commitment, as proposed by the European Parliament. T&E works together with other members of the Clean Shipping Coalition to reduce the air pollution and climate impacts of shipping globally and in Europe.

Fuel bills represent one third of the total cost of ownership of a van, making fuel an important business cost. At the same time, vans are one of the fastest growing sources of CO2 emitted from transport, increasing by 26% between 1995 and 2010; in 2014 vans accounted for 9% of road transport emissions in the EU (28 member states).