Paris Agreement 

The Paris Agreement brings all nations together to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change. The agreement commits to limiting the global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to go even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The agreement also aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.

The Paris Agreement requires all parties to report regularly on their emissions and on their implementation efforts, with a global stock take every 5 years to assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the Agreement.

To learn more visit United Nations Climate Change

The European Green Deal 

The European Green Deal sets out how to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. In December 2019 the European Commission presented The European Green Deal – with a roadmap containing actions to achieve this and a series of a series of initiatives that will protect the environment and boost the green economy. The European Green Deal covers all sectors of the economy, transport, energy, agriculture, buildings, and industries such as steel, cement, ICT, textiles and chemicals.

To be climate neutral in 2050, the EU proposed a European Climate Law turning the political commitment into a legal obligation with an EU-wide legal target for climate neutrality that binds the EU Institutions and national governments.

The European Commission have stated that reaching this target will require action by all sectors of economy, including

  • investing in environmentally-friendly technologies
  • supporting industry to innovate
  • rolling out cleaner, cheaper and healthier forms of private and public transport
  • decarbonising the energy sector
  • ensuring buildings are more energy efficient
  • working with international partners to improve global environmental standards

The EU will also provide financial support and technical assistance to help people, businesses and regions that are most affected by the move towards the green economy. This is called the Just Transition Mechanism and will help mobilise at least €100 billion over the period 2021-2027 in the most affected regions.

For more information visit the European Commission website

New Technology 

New cars are the cleanest technology currently available. While there has been an increasing number of cars have been produced over the past decade, manufactures have succeeded in reducing the environmental impact of the production process. The amount of water used for every car made has been cut by 44.1% since 2005 and CO2 emission have dropped by 35% during the same time frame (2015-2018)  EU automotive sector is the number one investor in research and development (28%) and is committed to innovation

Source: ACEA

Road Safety: Innovations in vehicle safety technology have made a major contribution to reducing the number of road accidents and injuries over the last decades. Road safety is complex area and depends a number of different factors and interactions. Cutting-edge vehicle technology is just one part of this complex subject. The behaviour of road users, as well as the maintenance and design of roads are all important aspects. In order to save even more lives in the future, we need to ensure that safe vehicles are driven by safe drivers on safe roads. 

ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association) represents Europe's car, van, truck and bus manufacturers, have composed this animated video on road safety to learn more about the difference between active safety systems and passive safety systems for cars.