European climate group says EU needs far tougher van CO2 targets
EU needs far tougher van CO2 targets: climate group
The European Union needs to dramatically toughen weak carbon dioxide targets for commercial vans to spur a shift to electric models and phase out fossil-fuel sales entirely by 2035, European campaign group Transport and Environment (T&E) said on Monday.
T&E said an analysis of van sales in 2020 showed no change in carbon dioxide emissions from 2017 and found the EU's carbon dioxide targets are so weak that most manufacturers can meet them without selling a single zero-emission van.
"Standards which entered into force at the beginning of 2020 were supposed to make vans cleaner, but vanmakers have had to do almost nothing to reach them," T&E freight manager James Nix said in a statement. "With pathetic CO2 targets, the boom in e-commerce is becoming a nightmare for our planet."
EU sales of electric and plug-in hybrid passenger cars almost tripled to over 1 million vehicles in 2020, accounting for more than 10 percent of overall sales, thanks to stringent carbon dioxide targets and government subsidies. But electric van sales have languished at about 2 percent of the market.
T&E said the EU needs to bring forward its current carbon dioxide reduction target of 31 percent forward to 2027 from 2030 and aim for a far more ambitious target of at least a 60 percent reduction by 2030. The group said the EU should set a 100 percent carbon dioxide reduction target by 2035, effectively banning combustion engine vans. T&E said the EU should prevent van makers from building plug-in hybrid vans.
T&E said an analysis of van sales in 2020 showed no change in carbon dioxide emissions from 2017 and found the EU's carbon dioxide targets are so weak that most manufacturers can meet them without selling a single zero-emission van.
"Standards which entered into force at the beginning of 2020 were supposed to make vans cleaner, but vanmakers have had to do almost nothing to reach them," T&E freight manager James Nix said in a statement. "With pathetic CO2 targets, the boom in e-commerce is becoming a nightmare for our planet."
EU sales of electric and plug-in hybrid passenger cars almost tripled to over 1 million vehicles in 2020, accounting for more than 10 percent of overall sales, thanks to stringent carbon dioxide targets and government subsidies. But electric van sales have languished at about 2 percent of the market.
T&E said the EU needs to bring forward its current carbon dioxide reduction target of 31 percent forward to 2027 from 2030 and aim for a far more ambitious target of at least a 60 percent reduction by 2030. The group said the EU should set a 100 percent carbon dioxide reduction target by 2035, effectively banning combustion engine vans. T&E said the EU should prevent van makers from building plug-in hybrid vans.
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