The Global Fuel Economy Initiative and 50by50

Top Reasons for Cleaner, More Efficient Vehicles,[Eng],[Sp],[French].

The Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) exists to promote improvements in global average automotive fuel economy, as per IPCC and G8 recommendations.  More efficient cars will support national and global climate change mitigation efforts if the global light duty vehicle fleet average moves from 8 L/100 km today to 4 L/100 km within the next 4 decades.  Emerging and developing economies have a large role to play in this shift as they rapidly motorize.  To this end, we work with countries to continue to develop the policies and incentive systems needed to lower emissions from vehicle stocks.

On the basis of current evidence on existing technologies, GFEI partner organizations the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the FIA Foundation, the International Transport Forum (ITF), and the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) believe that huge gains could be made in the fuel economy of the world’s light duty vehicle fleet, gains which could help every country, but particularly developing countries, to address the pressing issues of climate change, energy security and sustainable mobility.

The GFEI targets an improvement in average fuel economy (reduction in fuel consumption per kilometre) of all vehicles on the roads by 50% by 2050, with intermediate targets for new vehicles of 30% by 2020 and 50% by 2030. The aim is at least a stabilization of CO2 emissions from the global car fleet. Cutting global average automotive fuel consumption (to ~4L/100 km) by 50% would reduce emissions of CO2 by over 1 gigatonne (Gt) a year by 2025 and over 2 Gt by 2050, and result in savings in annual oil import bills alone worth over USD 300 billion in 2025 and 600 billion in 2050 (based on an oil price of USD 100/bbl), in addition to lowering harmful pollutant emissions, including black carbon.