GFEI Highlights Importance of Integrated Vehicle Energy Efficiency and Electrification Policy at IEA Training Week
The Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) brought its long-standing commitment to clean, energy-efficient mobility to the 20th Energy Efficiency Policy Training Week hosted by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Held from 7–11 April 2025 in Paris, the event convened policymakers, technical experts, and thought leaders from across the globe to advance impactful policy development across key sectors, including transport.
GFEI’s contribution was featured in the transport stream of the training, which focused on the vital role of energy efficiency in achieving net-zero targets in the transport sector. Delivered by Pierpaolo Cazzola of UC Davis, the GFEI session offered a deep dive into global fuel economy trends, technology transition pathways, and practical policy solutions to accelerate the shift to low-emission vehicles.
The Transport Transition: Key Findings and Recommendations
The GFEI presentation outlined the organization’s updated global targets for vehicle efficiency, based on its ZERO Pathway report. These targets reflect the urgency of the climate challenge, but also highlight that achieving zero-emission road transport by 2050 is both feasible and cost-effective with current technologies.
The session emphasized that battery electric vehicles (BEVs), when supported by low-carbon electricity, offer the greatest potential for reducing both specific energy consumption and lifecycle emissions.
While many regions are making strong progress – particularly China and parts of Europe – GFEI data shows that emerging economies often lack the necessary regulatory frameworks.
The GFEI intervention stressed that policy packages must go beyond regulation alone and incorporate incentives, demand-side interventions, and industrial policies to ensure an equitable and effective transition.
A Global View, Grounded in Data
Backed by extensive datasets and international policy experience, the GFEI presentation offered an evidence-based overview of the current state of light- and heavy-duty vehicle markets. It highlighted the dual trend of rising electric vehicle adoption alongside an ongoing shift toward larger, more material-intensive SUVs. The net impact: without targeted policy, energy efficiency gains could be undermined.
GFEI urged a focus on highly utilized vehicle segments—such as urban delivery fleets and taxis—for early adoption of zero-emission technologies. The presentation also explored the importance of addressing vehicle size and design, battery value chain resilience, and investment signals that drive the clean tech supply chain.
Empowering Policymakers
The GFEI session built on earlier discussions in the transport stream, which introduced the basics of fuel economy regulations and broader policy packages, grounded in the "Avoid-Shift-Improve" framework. It complemented contributions from experts on decarbonization pathways, regulatory design, and global case studies on electromobility and financing, including Yann Briand (SciencesPo), Ian Skinner (Transport and Environmental Policy Research), Ana Lepure (IEA), Francisco Cabeza (Mexican Electric Automotive Industry Association), Joyce Caitlyn Ocansey (Energy Commission of Ghana), Cristina Mihai (The Research Council of Norway), Andreas Kopf (International Transport Forum), and Jacob Mason (Institute for Transportation and Development Policy).
By offering insights on practical tools, global benchmarks, and actionable recommendations, GFEI’s contribution supported the IEA’s broader goal of building policymaker capacity in emerging economies—particularly in regions with limited policy coverage but growing mobility demand.
Looking Forward
GFEI’s participation in the IEA Energy Efficiency Training Week reaffirmed its mission to support countries in crafting tailored, integrated, and forward-looking vehicle efficiency and electrification policies. As the transition to zero-emission vehicles accelerates, the need for informed, well-resourced, and inclusive policies has never been greater.
For more on GFEI’s data, reports, and capacity-building work, visit: globalfueleconomy.org
