MEPs call for 20% reduction in car emissions by 2025

theguardian.com:

Lawmakers in the European parliament have called for a faster reduction in car pollution to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles in Europe.

Last year the European Commission proposed an end to new cars powered by petrol or diesel by 2035, as part of its far-reaching green deal, the EU response to the climate crisis.

In a vote on Wednesday, the European parliament’s environment committee backed that 2035 target, but said carmakers should meet an interim goal of a 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2025 to speed up the shift from petrol and diesel.

In a blow to green campaigners, an amendment proposing a target of a 75% reduction in emissions by 2030 was rejected.

The vote is not final, but a crucial step ahead of negotiations between MEPs and ministers from the 27 EU member states.

Carmakers currently have to ensure that their average fleet of new cars emits no more than 95 grams of C02 a kilometre. The equivalent target for vans is 147g CO2/km. The European parliament argued that carmakers need tougher short-term targets to reduce emissions “to accelerate the update of zero-emission vehicles”. To this end, MEPs proposed interim targets for 2025 and 2030. The commission had proposed a 55% reduction for cars and 50% for vans by 2030.

Phasing out petrol and diesel cars is seen as a crucial component in cutting pollution from transport, the only economic sector where emissions have been rising. Road transport accounts for 20% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and fuels toxic air pollution. Cars and vans are the single largest source of nitrogen dioxide pollution, linked to the deaths of 40,400 people in the EU a year, according to the European Environment Agency.

The car industry is also one of the EU’s biggest employers,