Reducing all emissions from cars and vans must be a top priority of EU policy in order to achieve the goals of the European Green Deal.
Progress in reducing emissions from cars and vans will need to be substantially accelerated compared to efforts in recent decades. IEEP has prepared a response to the Commission’s public consultation on CO2 emission standards for cars and vans in this context.
CO2 Emissions from transport continue to grow in the EU, unlike in most other sectors. CO2 emissions were 23% higher in 2018 than in 1990. Within this, road transport constitutes the highest proportion of overall transport emissions (around 71 % in 2018), or about a fifth of total EU emissions.
According to EEA projections based on existing policy measures in the EU Member States (‘with existing measures’ scenario) transport emissions will increase by 32% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.
Road emissions as a whole are also a primary contributor to unhealthy levels of air pollution, the top environmental threat to health in the EU. Reducing all emissions from cars and vans must be a top priority of EU policy in order to achieve the goals of the European Green Deal. Progress in reducing emissions from cars and vans will need to be substantially accelerated compared to efforts in recent decades.
IEEP submitted its opinion to the European Commission’s public consultation survey.
The consultation survey covers several important aspects linked to CO2 emissions standards for cars and vans. This complementary written submission highlights several additional issues not fully addressed in the survey that IEEP considers of key importance for future discussions of emissions linked to cars and vans:
- GHG emissions related to material use in cars and vans
- Carbon inequality and equity implications of emissions standards legislation
- Just transition
The revised CO2 Emission Standards Regulation must be designed in a coherent and synergised way with other legislation such as the Effort Sharing Decision, the rest of the Mobility Package, batteries legislation, and Circular Economy legislation to ensure the full life-cycle emissions of cars and vans, as well as their role in terms of broader economic, social and environmental sustainability, are taken into account.