During a conference on the future of the road transport sector organised by the Friends of Europe on 3 July in Brussels, Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission Vice President for the Energy Union, Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA and representatives from civil society appealed for a global approach to developing cleaner transport.
The impact of heavy-duty vehicles on climate change was at the heart of this discussion and the different participants shared their points of view on future sector challenges. At the beginning of the events, Fatih Birol explained that heavy-duty vehicles were “responsible for 35% of CO2 emissions… and 20% of nitric oxide emissions” on the roads, although the global fleet of heavy duty vehicles (60 million) is significantly less than that for cars (1 billion).
The sector is, however, a key factor in both the economy and society. The different participants, including Maroš Šefčovič, referred to a number of solutions and initiatives to help make this means of transport into a less polluting way of travelling.
The Commissioner for Energy Union therefore presented the most recent European Commission proposals, such as those in the “mobility package”, which suggest making it mandatory to equip new vehicles with smart tachographs to help improve transparency and awareness of vehicle performance. He also indicated that the Commission would propose new rules on “energy efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles”. The Commissioner also underlined the need to innovate and use “alternative energies” in the process in which the different stakeholders could be involved.
John Cooper, the Director of FuelsEurope and Sophie Punte, the Executive Director of Smart Freight Centre (Amsterdam), were invited to speak and welcomed the ideas expressed by the two above-mentioned speakers. They were also keen to add that the whole of civil society had to be involved in this transition towards clean road transport, which they believed required alternative energy sources. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)