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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.

Latest in Transport

The Interactions between European Policy Drivers for Increasing the Use of Biofuels in Transport

Ian Skinner and Bettina Kretschmer explain the complex interaction mechanisms between the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive and the Fuel Quality Directive.
Study on consumer information on fuel economy and CO2 emissions of new passenger cars

The study examines the implementation of Directive 1999/94/EC relating to availability of consumer information on fuel economy and CO2 emissions with respect to the marketing of new passenger cars...
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 ...
Working Paper 2: Operationalising Criteria to Protect Highly Biodiverse Grasslands under the Renewable Energy Directive (Directive 2009/28/EC)

This document builds on the analysis conducted within WP1, and sets out an approach to the implementation of Article 17.3.c of European Community Directive 2009/28/EC aimed at fulfilling the requirements ...
Environmentally Harmful Subsidies (EHS): Identification and Assessment - Case studies for the transport sector

This case study is part of the report 'Environmentally Harmful Subsidies (EHS): Identification and Assessment'. The study is a contribution to the European Commission’s ongoing efforts to investigate and ...
An Analysis of the Obstacles to Inclusion of Road Transport Emissions in the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme

Reducing emissions from road transport at the EU level will contribute to global efforts to mitigate greenhouse gases thereby reducing the potential impacts of climate change. This report investigates ...
IEEP Director David Baldock speaking at CARS 21 High Level Group meeting

Today (29 October) David Baldock, Executive Director of IEEP and a member of the High Level Group on CARS 21, will participate in the final conference on the Mid-Term Review of CARS 21 in Brussels. He ...
IEEP Studies the Role of the EU in Attempting to 'Green' the ICAO

A recent IEEP research paper examines the integration of environmental concerns into the aviation sector within the context of the peculiar multi-level governance structure that shapes policy in the sector. ...
Biofuels for Transport – European and US Approaches

This paper summarises the nature of the EU and US market for biofuels and current policy approaches on both sides of the Atlantic to promoting the development of biofuels. The paper also examines some ...
Transport and Climate Change: the Policy Challenges

This note summarises the issues related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. It focuses on road transport as the largest transport sub-sector in terms of greenhouse gas emissions ...
Commission Publishes Proposed Regulation on Cars and Carbon Dioxide

EU Policy Briefing note - 21 December 2007
IEEP Consultation Response on Carbon and Sustainability Reporting on Biofuels under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation

This document includes IEEP's formal comments on the Department for Transport Consultation issues in June 2007 on Carbon and Sustainability Reporting under the RTFO. While we consider the proposals to ...
UK biofuels proposals sound and pragmatic, but concerns remain

IEEP has responded to the UK Government's Consultation on the sustainability and carbon reporting system under the Road Transport Fuel Obligation, outlining some key concerns.For biofuels to be a successful ...
New IEEP report makes link between car use, obesity and carbon dioxide emissions

A new report by the Institute for European Environmental Policy and Adrian Davis Associates published on August 13, 2007 highlights the extent to which car use is implicated in the increase in obesity ...
Unfit for Purpose: How Car Use Fuels Climate Change and Obesity

This report by the Institute for European Environmental Policy and Adrian Davis Associates highlights the extent to which car use is implicated in the increase in obesity as well as rising carbon dioxide ...
Inclusion of aviation emissions in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)

This report details the results of a workshop organised by Peter Liese MEP, the Parliament’s rapporteur on the revised EU Emissions Trading Scheme. The workshop, attended by a selection of MEPs and environmental ...
Reforming Environmentally Harmful Subsidies

This recently published report represents a contribution to the work of the Commission's DG Environment in developing a roadmap for EHS reform by 2008, providing practical insights into subsidy reform ...
All at Sea

In the UK Department of Transport's ongoing review of its policy towards ports, there is a perceived lack of consideration being given to the sector's carbon dioxide emissions. In this context, IEEP was ...
The Sustainable Case for Rail: Position paper by the Institute for European Environmental Policy

IEEP were commissioned by the RMT Union to produce a position paper on the sustainable case for rail. Initially presented at a RMT Parliamentary Group Seminar held in the Houses of Parliament in June, ...
IEEP's analysis makes the news

Analysis undertaken by IEEP on behalf of the European transport and environment NGO T&E has revealed the slow progress of the carmakers' associations on their Voluntary Agreements for CO2 reduction with ...

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