CO2 performance emissions of new vans in Europe

Assessment versions

Published (reviewed and quality assured)

• 01 Jun 2021, 12:26 PM
  - CO2 performance emissions of new vans in Europe

Rationale

Justification for indicator selection

The Transport White Paper sets an objective of reducing transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 60 % by 2050, compared with 1990 levels.

By 2030, the goal for transport will be to reduce GHG emissions to around 20 % below their 2008 level (or 8 % above the 1990 level). GHG emissions from passenger cars and vans (light commercial vehicles) represent almost three-quarters of all GHG emissions in road transport (see EEA GHG data viewer). Given their dominance, it is of the utmost importance to reach a balance between societal and economic demands, and environmental targets. 

This indicator has been selected to monitor the fuel efficiency improvements of newly registered vans. It enables the assessment of progress towards the targets set by  Regulation (EU) No 2019/631.

Scientific references

• No rationale references available

Indicator definition

Average specific emissions of CO₂ are calculated as a weighted average of the Member State's fleet of new registrations of vans in a particular year. 

Units

Emissions are expressed in grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre (g CO2/km).

Policy context and targets

Context description

Transport consumes one third of all final energy used in the EU. The bulk of this energy comes from oil. This means that transport is responsible for a large share of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and a major contributor to climate change. While most other economic sectors, such as power production and industry, have reduced their emissions since 1990, those from transport have risen. They now account for more than one quarter of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions. A reversal of this trend is currently not in sight. That makes the transport sector a major obstacle to realising the EU’s climate protection goals. EU strategy documents focus on decarbonising transport. The European Commission’s 2018 strategy ‘A clean planet for all: A European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy’ seeks to chart the course for a transition towards ‘net-zero’ greenhouse gas emissions across the EU by 2050. For transport, it underlines the need for a system-based approach, stresses the importance of switching to low-carbon modes of transport and zero-emission vehicles, underlines the central role of electrification and renewable energy sources, and pushes for operational efficiency improvements. Similarly, from 2016, the ‘European strategy for low-emission mobility’ has identified a more efficient transport system, the rapid deployment of low-emission fuels and the transition towards low- and zero-emission vehicles as priority areas for action. In the context of these policies, the EEA collects and publishes data on all new cars and vans registered in Europe, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/631. These data are required to evaluate the efficiency of the new vehicle fleet and include information on CO₂ emissions and vehicle weights.

Targets

No targets have been specified

Related policy documents

No related policy documents have been specified

Methodology

Methodology for indicator calculation

Average specific CO2 emissions are calculated as a weighted average of the fleet registered in a particular year. For calculating manufacturers’ average emissions eco-innovations are also taken into account.

For each manufacturer annual specific emissions target is defined, calculated on the basis of the fleet-wide target and the average ‘mass in running order’ of the registered vehicles.

The following formulae applied for calculating the specific emission targets for vans until 2019 (included):

Vans: 175 + a × (M – M0)

where:

M is the average mass of the manufacturer’s fleet in kilograms;

M0 is the reference mass equal to 1766.4 kg;

a is 0.093.

Methodology for gap filling

No gap filling was applied

Methodology references

No methodology references available.

Data specifications

EEA data references

• Monitoring of CO2 emissions from vans provided by Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG-CLIMA)

Data sources in latest figures

Uncertainties

Methodology uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified

Data sets uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified

Rationale uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified