The European Commission (EC) has presented a legislative proposal to implement new CO2 emissions reduction targets for trucks. It proposes a mandatory cut in CO2 emissions from new trucks by 15% by 2025 (compared with 2019 levels) and an aspirational target of 30% cut by 2030 (compared with 2019); this 2030 target will be reviewed in 2022. The CO2 emission standards would first apply to large lorries (65-70% of all CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles) and would be extended to all heavy-duty vehicles (including uses, coaches and trailers) as of 2022. The proposal also includes a mechanism to incentivise the uptake of zero- and low-emission vehicles, in a technology-neutral way.
This new legislation would help the European Union reach the Paris climate accord to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. The expected benefits include in particular 54 Mt of CO2 reductions over the 2020-2030 period and oil savings of 170 Mt over the 2020-2040 period (€95bn at today's prices).
The transportation sector currently produces a quarter of the EU carbon emissions and is the only area in which they are still growing, unlike the recent trends in the agriculture and power sectors. Besides, trucks account for approximately 5% of the vehicle park on EU roads but generate about 25% of the total transport sector emissions, which means they will be a key target of the sector's carbon reduction efforts.