The Major Economies Forum (MEF) has endorsed the Global Fuel Economy Initiative’s (GFEI) ’50 by 50’ campaign in a new technology action plan for ‘advanced vehicles’ launched in conjunction with UN sponsored climate change summit in Copenhagen.
The MEF highlighted the GFEI 50 by 50 campaign as an example of individual and collective country actions that can help overcome market barriers and realise the potential of advance vehicles. The MEF is a group of 17 developed and developing economies instigated by the US government earlier in 2009, which subsequently met alongside this year’s G8 summit in Italy.
President Barack Obama has made the MEF a priority and following the report launch on 14 December he asked his Energy Secretary Steven Chu to intensify cooperation with his counterparts both in MEF countries and around the world.
In listing support for the GFEI as the 2nd of its key recommendations, the MEF report said: “The 50 by 50 Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) being promoted by the IEA and its partners is an example of a mechanism with an ambitious long-term target that could focus discussion on advanced vehicles and fuels within the international community. Such basic coordination helps ensure the health of the international automotive industry, which faces a global market and has important implications for individual economies. Thus, MEF countries may wish to promote or facilitate these exchanges.”
MEF is tasked with encouraging the development and deployment of low-carbon and climate-friendly technologies. Alongside the US, the participating governments are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, and the UK. The EU Commission, Sweden as EU President, and Denmark as host of the UN climate change summit are also participating.
The 50 by 50 campaign was praised by the MEF in its report which said it could “establish an ambitious overall goal for MEF countries.” Key recommendations from the GFEI were endorsed by the MEF. “Achieving ambitious, yet realistic, fuel economy targets is especially important in developing countries, since most new vehicles in the world will be bought and operated in these countries by 2050,” said the report. Overall, the MEF said that fuel economy improvements outlined by the 50 by 50 campaign are likely to result in at least a stabilisation of CO2 emissions from the global car fleet.
Sheila Watson, Executive Secretary of the GFEI said:
‘We are absolutely delighted that such an influential group of countries has endorsed the 50by50 campaign in this way, We look forward to seeing the talks in Copenhagen address the challenge of sustainable transport. 2010 will be an important year for us and we will continue to campaign at every level for greater fuel efficiency of the global car fleet, building on the MEF’s key recommendation that other countries should support us too.’
The advanced vehicles document is part of a suite of plans which lay out options for ambitious government action on 10 key clean energy technologies. The other areas include bio-energy; building sector energy efficiency; carbon capture, use and storage; high-efficiency, low-emissions coal technologies; industrial energy efficiency; marine energy; smart grids; solar energy; and wind energy.
The reports and further information on the MEF are available here
http://www.majoreconomiesforum.org/
The UN Climate Change conference website is here
http://en.cop15.dk/