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The IEA participated in the COP side event hosted by the International Transport Forum, "50 by 50" on the topic of vehicle fuel economy. It was held December 12 from 18:00 to 19:30 in the "GREBE" room of the Poznan International Fair Conference Centre.

In this "pre-launch" event, representatives of ITF, IEA and other partners will present the key features of the Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) -- a major forthcoming international initiative that aimed to facilitate large reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and oil use through improvements in automotive fuel economy in the face of rapidly growing car use worldwide. 

In this "pre-launch" event, the key features of the Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) were presented -- a major international initiative that aims to facilitate large reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and oil use through improvements in automotive fuel economy in the face of rapidly growing car use worldwide. 

GFEI will be launched in early 2009. It is sponsored jointly by the International Transport Forum, the International Energy Agency, the United Nations Environment Programme and the FIA Foundation.

The initiative is based on the premise that a 50% improvement in average fuel economy (reduction in fuel consumption per kilometre) is achievable for the world-wide stock of light-duty vehicles, and in fact can be achieved cost-effectively by 2050. This relates to a 50% improvement in all new cars and other light-duty vehicles by 2030, with interim targets also under development. With efficiency-related flanking measures this could result in at least a stabilisation of CO2 emissions from the global car fleet, an important contribution to meeting the CO2 targets identified by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and supported by G8 recommendations.

The benefits will also include significant reductions in oil expenditures and reductions in urban air pollution around the world. The potential benefits are large and greatly exceed the expected costs of improved fuel economy. Cutting global average automotive fuel consumption (L/100 km) by 50% (i.e. doubling MPG) would reduce emissions of CO2 by over 1 gigatonne (Gt) a year and result in savings in oil import bills alone worth over USD 200 billion (based on an oil price of USD 50/bbl).

The 50:50 Initiative proposes several steps and actions to work towards the overall goal and each step will achieve some of this overall benefit. The initiative has developed a core plan of activities and is developing linkages with other organisations and governments around the world to achieve its goal. The Global Fuel Economy Initiative aims specifically to improve the understanding of the potential for improving the fuel efficiency and reducing the CO2 emissions of cars around the world and provide guidance and support on the development of policies to promote fuel efficient vehicles.

For background information on the topic, you may wish to visit the following websites: