By William Todts, executive director at Transport & Environment

EU greenhouse gas emissions fell 2% in 2018, according to the European Environment Agency’s preliminary estimates. After four years of stagnation and increases, this is good news especially since 2018 was a year of robust economic growth across the continent. The bad news is that EU transport emissions — road transport plus domestic shipping and aviation — increased by half a percent. That’s the fifth year-on-year increase since 2012. What can we learn from these data and what lessons does it hold for Ursula von der Leyen and Frans Timmermans as they prepare to launch a bid to increase the EU’s climate ambition?

The data for 2018 show that transport emissions are higher now than they were in 2009. We don’t have mode-specific numbers for 2018 yet but based on 2017 trends we’d expect car emissions to remain stable, and truck and van emissions to go up by 1–2%. And the bad news doesn’t end here. The official EEA numbers are actually quite flattering. About 5% of transport fuels are biofuels and are counted as having zero emissions under the EU’s climate rules. That’s obviously complete nonsense. For example, 81% of EU biodiesel is…

by Geert De Cock, electricity and energy manager at Transport & Environment

This article was first published by EurActiv

Like the baker who suddenly smells their cake burning, the European Commission has gone running to the proverbial oven to see what can be done about its unambitious climate policies. Belatedly, the EU executive has said it will seriously look into increasing the bloc’s climate ambitions: from a 40% emissions reduction to -55% in 2030. Clearly, EU countries will need all the tools at their disposal to achieve steep emissions cuts.

Allow us to suggest one policy that could help member…

By Jori Sihvonen, clean fuels officer at Transport & Environment

Recently the gas sector has been playing up the role of or renewable gas in decarbonising the European Economy. The industry says biogas, biomethane, renewable hydrogen and renewable methane — supported through policy — can help bring about a decarbonised economy. This lobby offensive is gaining some traction, with the Romanian presidency and 17 other EU countries launching a declaration claiming gas networks are needed “to accommodate increasing shares of near-zero carbon hydrogen and renewable gases”. …

By William Todts, executive director at Transport & Environment

Ten months. That’s all it took for Europe to agree its biggest ever climate package for trucks. By EU standards that is miraculously fast. But it was the culmination of a radical change in approach that has taken place over the last nine years. Until 2016 the European Commission’s mantra was that the trucking market was a rational one, the implication being that increased transparency through a new test procedure and consumer demand would do the trick. Then the Commission’s stance changed abruptly.

A few developments explain this ‘volte face’. The…

Belgium’s proposal for Europe to tax aviation is most welcome and could address the current measures that are inadequate to address climbing emissions, writes Bill Hemmings.

Bill Hemmings is aviation director at sustainable transport group Transport & Environment.

This blog was first published by EurActiv

The Belgian proposal — to be discussed by EU environment ministers later on Tuesday (5 March) — is welcome and adds momentum to the Netherland’s similar pitch to finance ministers last month. …

On Monday, EU lawmakers may finally reach a deal on truck CO2 emission standards and on the first ever sales targets for zero and low-emission trucks. Electric trucks will benefit hauliers and society as a whole, but an ambitious sales benchmark will be needed to make sure truckmakers actively sell affordable and reliable models.

E-trucks are the third chapter of vehicle electrification — European automakers lagged far behind in the first two: electric cars and e-buses. The good news is that market monitoring shows production of new e-trucks is picking up momentum and the position of global leader remains up…

This blog was first published by EurActiv

By Jori Sihvonen and Andrew Murphy

The ink is barely dry on the EU’s revised renewable energy policy and already it is under threat from the aviation sector. That sector’s UN aviation agency, ICAO, known for its “spectacular lack of transparency”, is once more having a closed door meeting which risks clearing the way for the type of bad biofuels the EU has spent a decade trying to get rid of. And, on top of that, they are seeking to add “lower carbon” aviation fossil fuels as an option to cut aviation emissions.

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Greg Archer & Julia Poliscanova of Transport & Environment (T&E), first published in EurActiv.

There is a long history of bruising Brussels battles between left & right, or NGO’s & industry, over car emissions rules with millions of tonnes of emissions savings and billions of euros in investment at stake. The co-decision for the Commission’s proposal for post 2020 car and van CO2 targets is shaping up to be another epic fight and a flick through MEPs amendments show strong divisions both between and within political groups. …