ETERC officially launched in March 2023, at a conference ITS-Davis hosted in Brussels. In line with the ITS-Davis tradition of convening the highest caliber experts and leaders from government, environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs), industry, and academia, this event convened over 100 individuals to focus on sustainable transportation policy in Europe and lessons that can be exchanged with the US and California.
This event:
- Looked at challenges of climate change in the context of energy security, environmental justice, and economics, and how these influence transportation investments and choices.
- Covered road transport (light- and heavy-duty vehicles, passenger and freight), urban mobility, aviation, and maritime transportation at the EU and member-state policy levels, with links to international policymaking.
- Featured experiences and lessons learned on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2023, ETERC completed projects already covering road transport, shipping, and aviation, also in cooperation with Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, research-oriented consultancies operating in Europe and inter-governmental organisations. Specific deliverables include:
- An assessment of the potential of alternative fuels in different transport modes, with a focus on the EU, published in March, developed for the European Parliament during the negotiation of the ‘Fit for 55’ policy package, following an earlier briefing focused on the response to the Ukraine/Russia crisis.
- A report for the ZEV Transition Council and FIA Foundation, published in May 2023 and launched at the International Transport Forum (ITF) Summit, which set targets and strategies for Facilitating a Transition to Zero-emission Vehicles in the Global South. This will serve as a key guide for partnering (and other) countries going forward, in the context of the Zero Emission Vehicles Transition Council (ZEV TC).
- A report, published in June, covering low carbon fuel strategies for shipping and aviation, leveraging insights from two workshops, developed in New York (with Columbia University) and Brussels (on the occasion of the ETERC launch), considering approaches for these two sectors to respond to decarbonization challenges, taking a transatlantic perspective.
- The joint organization, as main partner, of the session on shipping and aviation of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Innovation Week 2023, held in September.
- A policy note for the World Bank (forthcoming), focused on policy instruments that can support a better alignment between motorization and sustainability in the Western Balkans, paying specific attention to vehicle electrification, second-hand vehicle trade and equity challenges.
- A report and a dataset (also forthcoming), updating earlier analyses, developed at the International Energy Agency, on the evolution of light duty vehicle sales globally, their specific fuel consumption, powertrain mix, weight and footprint, including an analysis of environmental, safety and equity implications, and as set of policy recommendations to address important criticalities.
Early partners and sponsors for these activities include Breakthrough Energy, the FIA Foundation, the World Bank, European institutions, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), IRENA, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the ITF at the OECD and the ZEV TC.