Fuel Economy a ‘Quick Win’ Transport Climate Action
The Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) was one of ten ‘Quick Win’ Transport initiatives that were presented at a high-profile ‘Transport Workday’ in Washington D.C. ahead of the Climate Action 2016 Summit.
The Workday, organised by the World Bank, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC) aimed to inform the transport discussions at the Climate Action Summit, in order to catalyse progress in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Sheila Watson, Executive Secretary of the Global Fuel Economy Initiative described how fuel economy contributes to sustainable mobility, saving money, energy, oil and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. She called for a global political commitment to fuel economy policy, to get existing cost-effective technologies into vehicles. The GFEI is leading a bold and ambitious agenda for change, including building capacity and supporting policy development in countries such as Chile, Kenya, and Indonesia. Fuel efficiency is already rising up the global agendas, as demonstrated by its inclusion in Sustainable Development Goal target 7.3; and the latest G20 statement of intent on energy efficiency. Regulated markets which have controls on fuel efficiency, and which enforce those rules, are seeing real improvements in their fuel economy levels. However, GFEI is calling for standards to be strengthened further and for countries with no policies to get on board, in order to achieve the reductions agreed at COP21 in Paris.
By including the GFEI in the 10 Quick Wins to Transform Mobility, Cornie Huizenga, Secretary General of the Partnership on Sustainable, Low-Carbon Transport highlighted the potential impact of fuel economy improvements in cutting emissions and the priority given to GFEI’s work by the sustainable transport community.
Other participants in the Workday included Dr. Hakima El Haite, Delegate Minister in Charge of Environment in Morocco and host of COP22, and Rachel Kyte, Chief Executive of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) intiative. Dr. Hakima El Haite gave the keynote speech on the ‘route to Morocco’, identifying capacity building as the “backbone to the success of our efforts to address Climate Change”. Rachel Kyte gave the transport community a ‘lessons learned’ presentation for Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4ALL) from the experience of SE4ALL. The GFEI are proud members of both initiatives.