Driving Down CO2 Emissions: Using mandatory targets to improve vehicle efficiency

Emissions of carbon dioxide from passenger cars make up around 12 per cent of Europe's total emissions. Substantial reductions in tailpipe emissions will be necessary if the sector is to meet its share of responsibility for achieving targets for combating climate change.

Reducing the tailpipe emissions from cars will require a package of policies focused across four contributory factors: fuel carbon intensity, vehicle efficiency, driving technique and distance driven. The focus of this paper is on the second of these, increasing vehicle efficiency, and the role that mandatory targets can play in bringing forward improvements in this area.