Focus On Transport Emissions Needed If Kyoto's CO 2 Targets Are To Be Met

• Weighted Average Fuel Consumption [32,342 bytes]

THE ECMT JOINT DECLARATION WITH INDUSTRY ON REDUCING CO ₂ Emissions from New Passenger Cars, agreed with ACEA and OICA (the European and world automobile manufacturers associations), had two objectives: 1) "to substantially and continuously reduce the fuel consumption of new cars sold in ECMT countries," and 2) "to manage vehicle use so as to achieve tangible and steady reductions in their total CO ₂ emissions."

The voluntary agreement committed governments to:

• An adequate policy framework.
• Encourage the development of new technologies and road traffic informatics.
• Ensure effective maintenance and inspection of vehicles in use and investigate incentives for car fleet renewal.

It committed industry to:

• Develop more fuel-efficient vehicles.
• Emphasize efficiency in marketing.

It required joint action to:

• Develop a system of efficiency labeling.
• Encourage the use of telematics.
• Coordinate research and development.
• Provide information for vehicle users, dealers, and driving instructors on the purchase and use of vehicles to achieve better fuel efficiency.

The agreement provided for monitoring of progress in implementing the declaration and of the fuel efficiency of new cars (see figure). The trends revealed through the monitoring show steep increases in fuel efficiency in the early 1980s with something of a deterioration in most countries since then.

The key explanatory variables for these trends are changes in fuel price, with the fuel price increases of the 1970s followed by a decline in real fuel prices in the mid-1980s to levels at the end of the monitoring period below fuel pump prices in 1972.

Rising disposable incomes have led to consumer preference towards more powerful and more comfortable (and as a result heavier) cars that have offset a large part of the technological efficiency improvements from better engine design and lighter-weight components. Safety and emissions regulations have also led to increases in the weight and fuel consumption of new cars.

The penetration of diesel has had an important impact on the average fuel efficiency of new cars in some countries, most of all France.

Adapted from a presentation at the Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto, Japan, Dec. 1-11, 1997.

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