CO2 Transport [EU]

CO2 emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles

Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 — setting CO2 emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles

It sets out the EU’s first CO2 emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles.
It will operate alongside Regulation (EU) 2019/631 to set out emission reduction targets for the EU road transport sector.
It forms part of the EU’s strategy to achieve its greenhouse gas emissions targets for 2021-2030 and contributes to the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Emissions reduction targets

The regulation sets a binding CO2 reduction target for new heavy-duty vehicles of:

from 2025 onwards: 15% reduction
from 2030 onwards: 30% reduction
The reference period for these reductions shall be 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020.

Incentives for zero-emission and low-emission vehicles

Introduces a dedicated mechanism in the form of super credits for the reporting periods from 2019 to 2024 and a benchmark-based crediting system for the share of zero- and low-emission heavy-duty vehicles in a manufacturer’s fleet from 2025 onwards, with a benchmark set at 2%.
System is designed to ensure investment certainty for charging infrastructure providers and manufacturers to promote the rapid deployment of zero- and low-emission heavy-duty vehicles on the EU market, while allowing manufacturers certain flexibility in their investments.
The system excludes buses and coaches because they are covered by other incentive measures.

Reliability of data

The European Commission will ensure that the reference CO2 emissions are robust and representative as a basis for calculating the EU fleet-wide CO2 emission targets.

The Commission will monitor and assess the real-world representativeness of the CO2 emissions and energy consumption values of heavy-duty vehicles. It will use on-board fuel and/or energy consumption monitoring devices, starting with new heavy-duty vehicles registered from the date of application of the measures.
It will introduce in-service conformity testing and mandate the reporting of deviations and the introduction of a correction measure.

Penalties

The Commission will impose a financial penalty, in the form of an excess CO2 emissions premium, on manufacturers found to have excess CO2 emissions, taking into account emission credits and emission debts.

To encourage manufacturers to take measures to reduce the specific CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, the premium must exceed the average marginal costs of the technologies needed to meet the CO2 emissions targets.

Review

By the end of 2022, the Commission must present a report on among other things:

the effectiveness of the regulation;
the CO2 emission reduction target and the level of the incentive mechanism for low- and zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles applicable from 2030;
the setting of CO2 emission reduction targets for other types of heavy-duty vehicles, including smaller trailers, buses, coaches and professional vehicles;
the introduction of binding CO2 emission reduction targets for heavy-duty vehicles for 2035 and 2040 onwards.

Application & Background

It has applied since 14 August 2019.

For more information, see:

Reducing CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 setting CO2 emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles and amending Regulations (EC) No 595/2009 and (EU) 2018/956 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 96/53/EC (OJ L 198, 25.7.2019, pp. 202-240)

Reduction in CO2 emissions of new passenger cars and of new light commercial vehicles

Regulation (EU) 2019/631 — setting CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and for new light commercial vehicles

It aims to make road transport cleaner, to meet the EU’s greenhouse-gas emission-reduction targets for 2021-2030 and to contribute to the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Key Points

The regulation sets out CO2 emissions performance requirements for new passenger cars and for new light commercial vehicles (i.e. vans).
These requirements will contribute to achieving the EU’s target of reducing, by 2030, its greenhouse gas emissions in the sectors not covered by the emissions trading system (ETS) by 30% compared to 2005.

Emission-reduction targets

Compared to 2021, the regulation requires that the EU fleet-wide-average CO2 emissions from both new cars and vans be reduced:
by 15% for the period 2025-2029;
by 37.5% for new cars and 31% for new vans from 2030 onwards.
The specific CO2 emissions targets bindingmanufacturers are based on these EU fleet-wide targets, but taking account of the average mass of their vehicle fleet.
Manufacturers exceeding their specific emissions target will have to pay an excess-emission premium of €95 per g/km excess (‘exceedance’) for each new vehicle registered.

Incentives for the up-take of zero- and low-emission vehicles (ZLEVs)

The specific CO2 emission target for a manufacturer will be relaxed if its share of ZLEVs registered in a given year exceeds the following benchmarks:
Cars: 15% ZLEVs from 2025 on and 35% ZLEVs from 2030 on,
Vans: 15% ZLEVs from 2025 on and 30% ZLEVs from 2030 on.

For calculating the ZLEV share in a manufacturer’s fleet, an accounting rule applies. This gives a greater weight to ZLEVs with lower CO2 emissions.

Exceptions (‘derogations’), pooling and eco-innovations

These are already-existing measures that facilitate manufacturers meeting their targets.
The new rules will phase out the derogations for manufacturers registering between 10,000 and 300,000 passenger cars from 2029 on.
Robust emissions data

The new rules aim to ensure the robustness and real-world representativeness of the emissions data recorded. In particular, they introduce:

a requirement to verify that the vehicle CO2 emissions and fuel consumption recorded by the manufacturers in the conformity certificates accompanying vehicles correspond to the emissions and fuel consumption of those vehicles when in service.
the monitoring and reporting of real-world CO2 emissions and fuel or energy consumption.
Review

The Commission will review the effectiveness of the regulation in 2023 and report to the European Parliament and the Council. The report will consider a number of elements including:

the real-world representativeness of the CO2 emission and fuel or energy consumption values;
the putting into service of ZLEVs on the EU market;
the roll-out of recharging and refuelling infrastructure for electric and gas-powered vehicles;
the potential contribution of the use of synthetic and advanced alternative fuels produced with renewable energy to emissions reductions;
the possibility of developing a common EU methodology for the assessment and consistent data reporting of the full life cycle of CO2 emissions of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles placed on the EU market.

The 2023 report may be accompanied by a proposal for amending this regulation, in particular, the possible revision of the EU fleet-wide targets for 2030 and the introduction of binding emissions-reduction targets for 2035 and 2040 onwards for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.

Application & Background

It applies from 1 January 2020.

For more information, see:

Reducing CO2 emissions from passenger cars (European Commission)
Post-2020 CO2 emission performance standards for cars and vans (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Monitoring, reporting and verification of ships’ CO2 emissions

Shipping is a growing source of the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that cause climate change. The European Union (EU) supports a global approach to tackle the phenomenon. But as a first step to reduce emissions, it has agreed that large vessels using EU ports from 2018 should report their annually verified CO2 emissions and other energy relevant information.

Regulation (EU) No 2015/757 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 on the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon dioxide emissions from maritime transport, and amending Directive 2009/16/EC

It establishes rules for an EU system to accurately monitor, report and verify (MRV) CO2 emissions and other relevant information from large ships using EU ports. It becomes applicable from 1 January 2018.

Key Points

— The system will apply to all vessels over 5 000 gross tonnes visiting EU ports after 1 January 2018.
— It will cover CO2 emissions from ships at sea and at berth. Data to be monitored on each ship cover also other energy-efficiency related information as distance travelled, time spent at sea and cargo carried.
— Each year, ship companies must provide externally verified records for each vessel covered by the Regulation.
— To ensure that monitoring is consistent and comparable, companies must document their methodology to be applied in a monitoring plan. They must check regularly whether the methodology needs to be improved. If necessary, they must submit it for reassessment to an accredited verifier.
— The monitoring plan must contain complete and transparent documentation on items such as the various sources of CO2 on the vessel and the procedures for determining activity data per voyage (i.e. distance covered, number of passengers, details of cargo carried, time spent at sea, etc.).
— By 31 August 2017, companies must prepare a monitoring plan for each of their ships covered by the Regulation. The plans must be submitted to an accredited verifier for assessment.
— From 30 April 2019, companies must submit a verified annual emissions report to the European Commission.
— From 30 June 2019 ships having visited EU ports during a previous reporting period must carry on board a valid document showing their compliance with the MRV obligations.
— By 30 June each year starting from 2019, the Commission must make the reported information publicly available.

Background

Emissions from the global shipping industry amount to about 1 billion tonnes every year. That represents 3 % of the world’s, and 4 % of the EU’s, total greenhouse gas emissions. Unless measures are taken to reduce these, they could more than double by 2050.

The MRV system is expected to cut CO2 emissions by up to 2 %. It could reduce net costs to ship owners by up to €1.2 billion per year in 2030.

More information:

Reducing emissions from the shipping sector

References

Act

Entry into force

Deadline for transposition in the Member States

Official Journal

Regulation (EU) No 2015/757

1.7.2015

-OJ L 123, 19.5.2015, pp. 55-76.

CO2 Transport [EU]

CO2 emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles

Emissions reduction targets

Incentives for zero-emission and low-emission vehicles

Reliability of data

Penalties

Review

Application & Background

MAIN DOCUMENT

Reduction in CO2 emissions of new passenger cars and of new light commercial vehicles

Key Points

Emission-reduction targets

Incentives for the up-take of zero- and low-emission vehicles (ZLEVs)

Exceptions (‘derogations’), pooling and eco-innovations

Application & Background

MAIN DOCUMENT

Monitoring, reporting and verification of ships’ CO2 emissions

Key Points

Background

References

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