Accelerating policy action in support of soot-free and zero-emission road transport in the Global South

Rationale

Emissions from transportation are expected to grow across Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean driven by economic development and population growth. At the same time, countries across these regions have made commitments towards net-zero, setting carbon neutrality for the next 30-40 years. 

The SEA region is expected to triple its greenhouse gas emissions from 800 million tonnes per year in 2020 to 2,400 MT by 2050 while both Africa and Latin America are expected to reach greenhouse gas emissions of 1500 MT per year by 2050. 

A transition to Euro VI emission standards would reduce black carbon (BC) emissions in Indonesia by 191,000 tons between 2020 and 2050 while BC emissions would reduce by 144,000 tonnes and 129,000 tonnes in South Africa and Latin America respectively in the same period. 

In Latin America, the largest heavy-duty vehicle markets have announced Euro VI transition in 2023 and 2025 and their progress and challenges can serve as first-mover examples to be replicated across the region; with CCAC funds, the ICCT is already supporting individual countries supporting Euro VI technical implementation. 

There are substantial SLCP emission reduction potentials to be gained by addressing new as well as used vehicles in the LAC activities, as well as significant co-benefits on air quality and road safety. 

Despite only a few countries allowing import of used HDVs in Latin America and the Caribbean region, most of these countries, 73%, have weak or very weak regulations on used HDVs - the highest of any region globally.  This support will initiate Euro VI transition and prepare Euro IV harmonised standards as an interim measure. This project builds on this work and will support South Africa in its transition to EURO VI.

Objectives

This project aims to deliver at a minimum: 

• Accelerate ASEAN region Euro VI transition and harmonisation by the end of the project or soon after.
• Accelerate SADC region Euro VI harmonisation adoption by the end of the project or soon after.
• Successfully implement and/or enforce Euro VI and ZEV targets in Latin America by the end of the project or soon after.

Activities

Working in the ASEAN region, this project will align vehicle emission standards, fuel quality standards, and used vehicle import policies. Doing so among countries with strong economic ties could have an added benefit of eliminating or reducing barriers to progress, such as competitiveness concerns, cross-border traffic, used vehicle markets, limited access to cleaner fuels, and limited availability of vehicle models meeting local design specifications. 

Together with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), this project will build on a previously developed sub-regional overview of fuel sulphur levels supported by the CCAC. This overview on harmonised low-sulphur fuel standards will be presented. presented to stakeholders at the sub-regional for consideration and adoption as regional standards. At the same time the project will sensitise countries that have already adopted low sulphur fuels on the need for matching vehicle emission standards.  

Finally, in Latin America the project will support the preparation of policy guidance documents based on first movers' experience to accelerate soot-free adoption in the region. It will make use of HDV remote sensing emissions data from Latin American cities to monitor and enforce policies and support complementary policies.