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makers must face when it comes to finding the right technical solutions in the fight against climate change.In order to address this challenge, the European automobile industry has made significant investments to further lower the NOx emissions of Euro 6 vehicles. Indeed, the latest generation of diesel vehicles delivers very low pollutant emissions on the road under the new RDE test. Diesel will remain crucial in the near future, because any significant move away from it would have severe consequences for meeting CO2 reduction targets, especially given the sluggish market uptake of alternatively-powered vehicles.The European automotive sector allocates more than €50 billion to R&D each year to address tomorrow’s challenges. But if we want to maintain our leadership in this competitive and fast-evolving world, the relative costs of reducing emissions must be similar and proportionate across sectors. Already now, the costs of reducing CO2 from road transport are the highest of all industry sectors, according to McKinsey. Not only should comparable efforts be made by Europe when compared to the rest of the world, but also across all modes of transport. Today’s CO2 reduction strategies tend to target road transport in particular. In order to be as effective as possible, EU decarbonisation efforts should cover all transport modes – including shipping and aviation. Moreover, the current system has limited environmental benefits, as it focuses on new vehicle technology alone. Europe will need to adopt a more holistic approach that also looks at the full fleet and how it is used. This means combining what manufacturers can do through technology and addressing the other factors that affect CO2 emissions from transport. ■ABOUT THE AUTHOR Erik Jonnaert is the Secretary General of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), a position he has held since July 2013. In addition to his ACEA posting, Mr Jonnaert is Chairman of the steering committee of the European Automotive Telecom Alliance. He is also on the board of ERTICO and the MaaS Alliance. A Belgian national, Mr Jonnaert holds a Master’s degree in law from the University of Ghent and Harvard Law School. ABOUT ACEAACEA represents the 15 major manufacturers of passenger cars, vans, trucks and buses with production in the European Union: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford of Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco, Jaguar Land Rover, Opel Automobile, PSA Group, Renault Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, Volvo Cars, and Volvo Group.“THE COSTS OF REDUCING CO2 FROM ROAD TRANSPORT ARE THE HIGHEST OF ALL INDUSTRY SECTORS, ACCORDING TO MCKINSEY”Right : Improving the internal combustion engine and modern diesel technology will remain crucial to reducing CO2 emissions from the fleet in years to comeBelow: Erik JonnaertTRANSPORT AND MOBILITY 101