Archived press release

New Car Emission Figures Another Blow for Climate Policy

13 April 2005

Car fuel efficiency figures released by the motor industry today (Wednesday 13^th April) deal another body-blow to Labour's commitment to tackling climate change, Friends of the Earth said today. The Government was counting on a cut in transport emissions to meet its domestic target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2010

Figures released today by the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) on the average carbon dioxide emissions from new cars sold in the UK in 2004, show that it is now highly unlikely that the industry will meet its promised target for making cars more fuel efficient.

The motor industry agreed a voluntary target that all new cars sold in EU member states should emit on average no more than 140 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre (gCO2/km) by 2008. But figures for the UK show that in 2004 new cars emitted an average of 171.4gCO2/km - an improvement of only 0.4 per cent on 2003 [1] and nowhere near the improvement needed to meet its target.

The Government has blamed the slow progress on the preference of UK car buyers for larger vehicles and the slow introduction of new technology. But Friends of the Earth says that Labour policy is also to blame - the current system of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED, or car tax) provides little incentive for car buyers to choose smaller, more fuel-efficient cars rather than gas-guzzlers.

Friends of the Earth's Senior Transport Campaigner Tony Bosworth said:

"These new figures are yet another body-blow to government promises to tackle climate change. Whoever wins the election must give motorists more incentive to buy more fuel-efficient cars. The Chancellor must significantly increase tax on gas-guzzlers and cut it for fuel efficient vehicles. The UK Government cannot lead the rest of the world in tackling climate change if it fails to act at home."

Friends of the Earth believes that whichever party comes to power should:

• Introduce higher VED rates for gas guzzlers, up to a maximum of £500 a year, to be phased in over five years, and immediately reduce VED on the most fuel-efficient cars to zero.
• Increase support for renewable alternatives to conventional petrol and diesel, grown from crops such as oil seed rape and sugar beet.
• Increase grants for the purchase of low emissions vehicles such as hybrids, which run on a mixture of petrol and electricity.

Notes

Transport is responsible for about a quarter of UK emissions of carbon dioxide, the vast majority of this coming from road transport. Emissions from road transport are increasing because rising traffic levels are eliminating the small gains being made in fuel efficiency. The current Government forecasts that transport emissions will continue to rise in coming years, and will account for a growing percentage of total UK emissions. This rise in transport emissions is one of the main reasons why the Government is not on course to meet its domestic target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2010.

In the late 1990s, the EU reached a voluntary agreement with ACEA - the European car manufacturers association - to reduce emissions from new cars sold. The target is that by 2008, the average emissions from new cars sold in member states should not exceed 140 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre (gCO2/km). This represents a 25% improvement over emissions levels in 1997.

However progress to date has been very slow. Emissions have fallen by 18.4 gCO2/km between 1997 and 2004. In order to meet the target, a further improvement of 31.4 gCO2/km will be needed over the next 4 years. Two-thirds of the way through the period to meet the target, only just over one-third of the necessary improvement has been made.

The Government estimated savings from improving car fuel efficiency at 2.6 - 5 million tonnes of carbon (MtC) and the Energy White Paper gave a figure of 4 MtC. Last year, Transport Minister David Jamieson MP, in evidence the House of Commons Transport Committee, admitted that the Government was not on course to meet the 4 MtC target, and that "we are probably at the lower end of our ambition of probably about the 2.6".

Current VED bandings provide very little incentive for car buyers to choose a smaller, more fuel-efficient car. Government research says that if the differential between bands was £50, 33% of people [about to buy a car] would choose the greener model, and at £150, 55% would. Although there are currently minor differentials of £10, £20, or £30 between the greener bands, there is no differential at all between the majority of cars - average cars and gas guzzlers. The bands need widening. In March's Budget, the Chancellor froze VED for the greener bands, and increased it for the top two bands by £5: acceptance - that polluting cars should pay more - yet failure - to make the differential sufficient that it would make any difference. The recently-introduced fuel efficiency labels will give buyers more information, but are not enough without changes in VED to provide a price incentive.

Negotiations are currently underway in the EU about what happens after 2008, with a further target of 120 gCO2/km by 2012 being discussed, Friends of the Earth supports a further target, and believes that it should be mandatory rather than voluntary.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust