Climate goals urged in car rescue plans[fr][de] 

The '50 by 50' Global Fuel Economy Initiative was launched yesterday (4 March) in Geneva by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Transport Forum (ITF) and the FIA Foundation.

It aims to boost the efficiency of all new cars by 50% by 2030, with the entire global fleet expected to reach this goal by 2050. 

The plan is set to reduce annual CO2 emissions by two gigatonnes (Gt) by 2050, while saving six billion barrels of oil, its supporters claim.

The proposals come as bailout plans are devised all over the world for carmakers severely hit by the economic downturn. In Europe, thousands of workers have been laid off as a result of plummeting sales.

Concerns have been raised that national rescue plans will spark new protectionism inconsistent with internal market principles (EurActiv 04/02/09). Moreover, the feasibility of spending public money on subsidies to the industry has been questioned.

With the number of cars taking to streets expected to triple by 2050, the organisations behind the initiative say that achieving their goal could stabilise CO2 emissions at just above 2005 levels. Air quality in rapidly organising countries would also improve significantly.

According to the agencies, the required cuts are achievable with existing technologies. In order to reach the intermediate 2030 target, the main additional measure would be to extend hybridisation to a much wider range of vehicles, they add.

Moreover, they expect the further development of battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and potentially hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to bring these to the mass market in the near to medium term, providing further emission reductions.

Nevertheless, the report acknowledges that the difficult financial situation car manufacturers are facing at the moment could hamper the industry's enthusiasm to embrace change. "We take a long range view in this initiative," the organisations state, pledging to work together with governments and car manufacturers to reach the goals cost-effectively.

Public policies to promote the shift

The agencies argue that fuel economy policies, still in their infancy outside the OECD, will be necessary to ensure progress. They suggest several government strategies, depending on the market situation in various countries.

For example, standards for fuel efficiency and vehicle components can combat the "natural aversion to investing in fuel economy," the report states. It adds that taxes on vehicle ownership as well as prices for an annual permit to drive on the roads can be differentiated according to the efficiency and emissions of a car (see EurActiv LinksDossier on 'Cars & CO2').

The report advocates an international alignment of fuel economy testing, tax incentives and labelling systems. Creating global car markets would lower the costs of meeting the regulatory standards, it concludes.

EU ministers to discuss scrapping schemes

EU ministers are today (5 March) meeting in the Competitiveness Council to discuss the crisis in the automotive industry. The draft conclusions promote scrapping schemes, offering payments funded by taxpayers to consumers who scrap a very old model when buying a new one, as a form of incentive to reach European environmental targets.

The European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E), however, urged the EU to be more vigilant as to what incentives it was promoting. Citing an OECD study, it argued that such scrapping schemes put a high average price on a tonne of pollution avoided and have less favourable environmental impacts than alternative policy tools.

"It is ironic that the car industry has cried foul every time a piece of environmental regulation has been put forward and demanded impact assessment after impact assessment.  But they are strangely quiet on the subject of assessing the environmental benefits vs costs of scrapping incentives, despite billions of public money being at stake," Kerstin Meyer of T&E said.

Speaking at the launch, the heads of the organisations behind the initiative stressed the importance of the car sector in reaching emissions reductions.

Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the IEA, said: "We have to find ways to reconcile legitimate aspirations for mobility, an ambitious reduction in CO2 from cars worldwide and global economic recovery. In confronting the economic recession this is a real opportunity for governments to combine support for the auto industry with measures to achieve environmental and energy policy goals. The faster we can move on this, the more benefits will accrue."

Achim Steiner, UNEP executive director, said: "The crucial UN climate convention meeting, taking place in some 300 days in Copenhagen must agree a deep, decisive and comprehensive deal to lift the threat of global warming from the lives of billions of people. Transport is a crucial sector in this transformation to a low carbon, green economy. The world's car fleet is expected to triple by 2050 with 80% of this growth in developing economies. Thus an initiative like GFEI has a key role to play.”

Jack Short, secretary general of ITF, said: "The Global Fuel Economy Initiative provides a much needed roadmap for action both now and in the long term. We have set clear targets which will have both environmental and economic benefits, and we already have the technology and the means to get us on the road to making our cars 50% more fuel efficient – all that is needed are coordinated efforts and actions from both industry and governments." 

David Ward, director general of the FIA Foundation, said: "This initiative can have a huge impact on the motoring public. Through tax incentives and information campaigns it would help encourage consumer demand for more fuel efficient cars. Our 50% fuel efficiency target requires us to change direction and take important actions right now."

Acoording to the European Federation for Transport and Environment, the initiative was positive but "too little too late". "Over the next 40 years, global mobility is likely to more than double compared with today's level. If cars are made 50% more efficient, and the progress with trucks, ships and aircraft is even less, global transport emissions will still increase.  But we need an 80% overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 which requires a doubling of fuel efficiency by 2020, not 2050," said Jos Dings, director of T&E.