Car industryReport sees road transport climate targets well on track
SDA
14.1.2025 - 00:33
Researchers from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) believe that the EU is well on the way to achieving its climate targets for road traffic. However, on the occasion of a report published on Tuesday, they warn against turning away from the combustion engine phase-out.
Keystone-SDA
14.01.2025, 00:33
SDA
"A weakening of the current CO2 targets for manufacturers would jeopardize the reduction in emissions," explained Felipe Rodríguez, deputy head of the ICCT in Europe.
The organization assumes that carbon dioxide emissions in European road traffic will reach a peak of almost 800 million tons of CO2 this year. However, according to the report, the EU's climate targets for car and truck manufacturers could ensure that emissions fall as early as next year and drop by around a quarter by 2035 - that would be a turnaround in emissions-intensive road traffic.
According to the organization, the decisive factor for this is the decision to phase out combustion engines for cars by 2035. By then, no more cars with combustion engines are to be registered in the EU. Until then, the so-called fleet limits, i.e. the maximum average carbon dioxide emissions of all new cars from a manufacturer, will be gradually reduced.
Demand for relaxation
In view of the crisis in the European car industry, there have been calls for a move away from the ban on combustion engines. According to ICCT representative Rodríguez, such a step would "undermine Europe's role as a global role model for other regions".
Numerous German politicians, including Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), also called for the car manufacturers to be exempted from impending penalties. VW and Renault, for example, who could already miss the targets this year, are campaigning for this. However, there is no unanimity among the manufacturers: BMW and the Stellantis Group believe they are on the right track, while pure electric car providers such as Tesla are considered emission-free anyway.