“Transportation for A Better Life: Safe and Smart Cities” was the theme of this year’s Asian Transportation Research Society (ATRANS) symposium, which was held in Bangkok. The GIZ Transport and Climate Change project (TCC) was invited to give a presentation on fuel economy during the “Transportation, Energy and Environment” session.

Road transport makes up about 80 per cent of the world transport sector’s total energy consumption, noted TCC Project Director, Tali Trigg,

With passenger car travel projected to quadruple by 2050 in the ASEAN region, and sales of passenger cars set to increase by 500 per cent in a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario between 2010 and 2050 (IEA, 2012), the expected rise in road transport CO₂ emissions is alarming. Thus reductions through the implementation of fuel-efficiency policies and measures (in short: fuel economy) must be considered a low-hanging fruit that should be plucked sooner rather than later.

Fuel economy can be grouped into three categories: regulatory, monetary, and information and awareness-related measures. While the first can refer to measures such as national tyre or CO₂emission standards, the second can refer to the implementation of “feebates”, where cars emitting a high amount of g/CO₂ km are taxed and lower-emitting vehicles are provided with rebates. Finally, consumer awareness measures include labelling, since this indicates the vehicle’s emission levels and potentially also the expected return on investment, therefore helping consumers to make an informed decision prior to the vehicle purchase.

TCC’s partner countries include Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. While Vietnam and Thailand have some fuel economy policies in place, the remaining countries are still in the process of developing them. Based on the strategies set by the ASEAN Transport Strategic Action Plan (KLTSP; 2016-2025), TCC engages partner countries to implement sustainable transport measures and improve data and MRV (Measurement, Reporting and Verification) systems including fuel economy by applying the Avoid-Shift-Improve/Fuel (ASI/F) approach. In this sense, TCC is also keen on cooperating with research institutions to further expand on the availability of transport sector data and promote training and capacity-building in its partner countries.