EU carbon dioxide emissions from new cars down by 12% since 1995

EU carbon dioxide emissions from new cars down by 12% since 1995

London (Platts)--23Jun2005


Carbon dioxide emissions from new passenger cars sold in the EU-15--the 15
member states of the European Union prior to last year's accession of ten new
members--decreased by 11.8% between 1995 and 2003, a 1.2% progress compared to
2002, according to the annual report on CO2 emissions from new cars, adopted
by the European Commission Thursday. 

The report shows that the car industry has made progress in fulfilling its
obligations under the voluntary agreements to market cars that emit less CO2,
but it "also underlines that major additional efforts will be required in the
coming years in order to deliver the target to which the industry has
committed itself," the EC said. 

Road transport generates more than one-fifth of all CO2 emissions in the EU,
with passenger cars being responsible for more than half of these emissions.
CO2 emissions from road transport have risen by 22% since 1990, notably due to
an increase in road transport, including private driving. 

The commitments of the European, Japanese and Korean car manufacturers'
associations to reduce CO2 emissions to 140g/km by 2008/2009 are the first
pillar of the EU's strategy to reduce CO2 emissions from new passenger cars.
The other two pillars are consumer information (fuel efficiency labelling),
and fiscal incentives, the EC noted. 

Commenting on the reduction, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "I
appreciate the efforts of car manufacturers to deliver cars that emit less
CO2. I hope that the car industry will continue its efforts to meet the 140g
of CO2/km target under the voluntary agreement. This will be crucial to
achieve the ultimate EU goal of 120g of CO2/km. To respect the Kyoto
commitments and reduce our oil dependence, we must reduce CO2 emissions from
transport, the sector whose emissions keep growing." 

This story was originally published in Platts Metals Alert
http://www.metalsalert.platts.com

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