Climate Change & Energy

Our Work

Travel: a guilty pleasure or a daily necessity? Either way, transport is integral to today’s society. We support the development of policies that minimise the impacts of mobility demand on the environment. In particular, we work to bring environmental and sustainability considerations into transport policy. We have a wealth of experience in road transport and fuel issues, and have also worked on aspects of rail, aviation and shipping. Fuel quality, car performance standards, consumer information, lifestyle choices and economic incentives have all featured in our recent work.

Cars and CO2
We were influential in the development of EU standards for the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from cars:

 

Contributing to the Commission’s early CO2 Strategy for Passenger Cars. We produced guidelines for monitoring data, as well as a template and database for the collection and collation of Member State data on the emissions of CO2 from new passenger cars.

Business Impact Assessment: IEEP led a contract for the Commission on a business impact assessment of measures to reduce CO2 from passenger cars. This looked at the potential role of technical standards, grouping of and trading between manufacturers and their relative economic, environmental and consumer impacts. This was part of the process of moving towards CO2 legislation to encourage innovation and CO2 reduction in vehicles.

In addition, two of our staff members sit on an EU high level working group CARS 21 (Competitive Automotive Regulatory System for the 21st century). The CARS 21 is a process launched by the European Commission in 2005 aiming to make recommendations for public policy and regulatory framework of the European automotive industry.

Sustainability of biofuels policy

Biofuels have gained increasing momentum both politically and commercially over recent years. If they are to be a truly sustainable alternative to conventional transport fuels, biofuels policy must take account of the potential environmental, social and economic side-effects. We work with both the EU and the NGO community on this issue. We are involved in the development of sustainability criteria for biofuels.

Read more about our work on biofuels.

Lifestyle

Much of our work has been concerned with the more technical side of transport, but we do not neglect the significant link between transport and lifestyle. An IEEP report for Greenpeace examined the impacts of travel patterns in the UK on climate change and obesity, focussing on the decline of walking as a mode of transport. A study carried out for the European Parliament looked at the effectiveness of environmental labelling of new cars in influencing consumer decisions.

Aviation, rail and shipping

IEEP’s work on non-road transport includes:

In relation to aviation we have provided advice on the policy implications of its impacts on the upper atmosphere, led inputs into discussions on aviation charging in the UK and organised a workshop on the inclusion of aviation in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and its environmental, competitiveness and legal consequences.

We have provided environmental support to the UK Strategic Rail Authority in the shape of briefings on the environmental performance of the rail sector and a review of environmental policy developments in relation to railways. We have looked at rail in the context of sustainable development. We have examined the feasibility of expanding an EU-wide emissions trading scheme for nitrous oxides and sulphur dioxide (NOx and SO2) to include shipping.

More about our work in this area...

Latest in Transport

  • Greening taxes and subsidies in the Pacific

    IEEP will share its expertise on environmental taxation and the reform of environmentally harmful subsidies at a forum event on greening taxation and subsidies in the Pacific region during the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii.

  • New report: delivering low carbon transport fuels post 2020

    How should EU policy support the transition to low carbon transport fuels post 2020? A new IEEP led report argues that future policies should be differentiated to tailor support towards specific objectives and technologies that offer the greatest potential for a low carbon future.

  • New report is out: delivering low carbon transport fuels post 2020

    How should EU policy support the transition to low carbon transport fuels post 2020? A new IEEP led report argues that future policies should be differentiated to tailor support towards specific objectives and technologies that offer the greatest potential for a low carbon future.

  • Conclusion on ILUC in sight

    After five years of discussion, a landmark moment has been reached whereby the indirect land use change (ILUC) impacts of biofuels almost certainly will be addressed in EU law.

  • Building a high value bioeconomy in the UK: opportunities from waste

    The UK is exploring opportunities to develop a high value bioeconomy based initially on waste. IEEP is helping to identify international best practice examples in order to maximise the environmental and economic benefits of this new Government initiative.

  • The Manual: Chapter 13 - Sectoral policies

    This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. This chapter sets out the development of some of the most important links between EU environmental policy and other policy areas, such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, transport, trade, and so on.

  • Space for energy crops – An assessment on the potential contribution of Europe’s energy future

    The overall energy potential that can be produced from growing dedicated energy crops on ‘spare’ land in the EU is low. This new report explores the potential for the additional production of energy crops in Europe on land not already used for food production, forestry, or providing other important services, and assesses some of the challenges associated with increasing output.

  • Environmental policy and the UK’s review of the EU Balance of Competences

    The UK Government’s Balance of Competences review has now taken evidence on 25 subject areas, including the 6 with the most relevance for the Environment. We take stock of the IEEP’s contributions, and consider what a possible UK renegotiation might mean for the environment.

  • Ministers place biofuels in a policy vacuum

    Energy Ministers today failed to agree reforms to the EU laws that promote the use of biofuels for transport. Current EU legislation is flawed and unfit for the purpose of delivering verifiable greenhouse gas emission reductions from the transport sector.

  • Biofuels and ILUC – Q&A

    Recurring questions on biofuels and ILUC are addressed in IEEP’s latest report to help build a robust policy to deal with ILUC and other impacts of large scale production of first generation biofuels.

  • Biodiversity proofing of the EU budget

    This study shows how more can be done to firstly avoid and minimize detrimental impacts of EU funding on biodiversity, and secondly to increase biodiversity benefits.

  • Systemic approach to adaptation to climate change and renewable energy harnessing (Biomass and Mini-hydro)

    Biochar has the potential to both mitigate greenhouse gases, and to act as an adaptation measure in terms of responding to the impacts of climate change. Based on its compatibility with the appropriate soil properties, it could increase the resilience of soil to erosion.

  • IEEP’s Environmentally Harmful Subsidies Study Published

    The report is a contribution to the European Commission’s ongoing efforts to investigate and reform environmentally harmful subsidies (EHS).The study is based on three methodologies developed by the ...

Highlights

  • New report: delivering low carbon transport fuels post 2020

    How should EU policy support the transition to low carbon transport fuels post 2020? A new IEEP led report argues that future policies should be differentiated to tailor support towards specific objectives and technologies that offer the greatest potential for a low carbon future.

  • Biofuels and ILUC – Q&A

    Recurring questions on biofuels and ILUC are addressed in IEEP’s latest report to help build a robust policy to deal with ILUC and other impacts of large scale production of first generation biofuels.