Demand stimulation policies: Emission reduction standards

Current status of implementation and existing gaps

Emission reduction standards are a widely used instrument that governments from both developed and emerging economies have used to limit emissions from vehicles. The scope of such standards is applicable to CO₂ and other greenhouse gases.

Examples and initiatives

In EU, new CO₂ emission standards have been introduced that set a 45% emission reduction target for heavy-duty vehicles by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, increasing to 90% by 2040 (EC, 2023a). Other major economies, such as Canada, China, India, Japan and the United States also apply standards to heavy-duty vehicles (The Climate Change Authority, 2023).