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A leading group of European investors has called on the EU to go further than current planned changes to vehicle emissions regulations by introducing 'real-world' tests for CO2 and other pollutants.
The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) is a network of 118 mainstream European investors that manages around €12 trillion of assets. The group describes itself as “an important provider of capital to Europe's automotive sector”.
The IIGCC said its members' investments had lost “significant value” because of the Volkswagen emissions scandal. Stephanie Pfeifer, chief executive of the IIGCC, said: “Trust in emissions data urgently needs to be restored so that investors can be sure that official data is reliable.
“When making investment decisions about automotive companies, IIGCC members rely on official data regarding the regulatory risks that arise from vehicle emissions.”
“It is important for public health and investor confidence that the EU has a strong and predictable regulatory framework where standards are not watered down for particulate or greenhouse gas emissions.”
The “tightening” of the EU testing regime, through random on-the-road and the setting up of an independent European type approval authority, will also make the automotive industry more competitive, the group points out in a letter to European politicians published today.
Changes to the emissions testing regime will be part of the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedures, due to be introduced in September 2017 and will include some on the road emissions testing for NOx. European policy makers are also due to discuss overhauls to the vehicle type approvals system next month.
The crisis at Volkswagen worsened this week when the German carmaker admitted it had found “irregularities” with the CO2 emissions levels reported for 800,000 vehicles in Europe, including 100,000 petrol cars. This follows the admission last month that up to 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide have been fitted with defeat devices to pass NOx emissions tests.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has said it “fully understands the need” to change testing to accoung for real driving emissions (RDE) from 2017.
Erik Jonnaert, the Secretary General of the ACEA, said: “RDE testing of cars on real roads under realistic driving conditions will be a new addition to the existing test requirements, making Europe the only region in the world to implement such real world testing for cars.
“The automobile industry is ready to engage with Europe’s policy makers to examine how to reconcile higher air quality standards with ambitious climate change policies.”