Towards a Global Approach to Automotive Fuel Economy

On 15&16 May 2008 the FIA Foundation, the International Transport Forum, the International Energy Agency and UNEP organized a symposium on fuel economy. The symposium was hosted by the FIA Foundation in Paris. Many PCFV partners participated in the symposium.

It was found that although the global light duty fleet is set to triple by 2050 - with most of the growth taking place in non-OECD countries - there is no global approach to fuel economy. While OECD countries are setting increasingly stringent CO2 emission standards for vehicles, apart from China no non-OECD country appears to have yet started on this. It was also found that there is a lack of data and research on issues such as vehicle flows globally and potential fuel economy improvements and costs. It was further found that there is a lack of global harmonization on issues such as labeling information for consumers and driving test cycles.

Finally, the symposium discussed that more needs to be done to provide policy advise to countries to assist them in addressing fuel economy issues. The four organizing partners are now looking into developing a global initiative to promote fuel economy. The PCFV, that is already promoting this as a co-benefit to cleaner fuels and vehicles, could be a key partner in such an initiative.

For more information visit: FIA Foundation Website