Auto Industry Should Halve Emissions By 2050
Posted on: Wednesday, 4 March 2009, 15:36 CST
Four international agencies called on governments and the auto industry to enact global fuel economy goals that would halve vehicle greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Such targets for cars should be part of packages aimed at stimulating economic recovery in the motor industry, said the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), International Energy Agency, International Transport Forum and the FIA Foundation on Wednesday.
"We have to find ways to reconcile legitimate aspirations for mobility, an ambitious reduction in CO2 from cars worldwide and global economic recovery," Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the IEA, told the AFP during the Geneva Motor Show.
"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 policy goals," he said.
Reaching these ambitious targets could save the equivalent of about half the European Union's annual greenhouse gas emissions, or roughly two gigatons of carbon dioxide and six billion barrels of oil each year, according to a report by the "50 by 50" Global Fuel Economy Initiative.
The goal could be achieved progressively with current technologies that provide more efficient and economical engines and components, the agencies said.
"We're not talking about the pipe-dreams that some car companies have sold us for 10 or 20 years now while opposing any kind of fuel efficiency standards through government regulatory frameworks," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
The world’s fleet of automobiles is expected to triple by 2050, particularly in developing nations, creating potentially serious consequences for climate change unless emissions are controlled, the agencies said.
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On the Net:
- United Nations Environment Program
- International Energy Agency
- International Transport Forum
- FIA Foundation
- Geneva Motor Show
Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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