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Heavy trucks and buses are a major source of air pollution in cities.

But the European Commission has come up with ambitious new CO2 emissions targets for heavy-duty vehicles

as part of its efforts to decarbonise the transport sector and reach the EU's climate objectives.

Stay with us.

We all want to be able to move around in a more sustainable way, yet transport is the only

sector where emissions have continued to grow.

Emissions from heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks and buses have grown by 29% since 1990,

accounting for over a quarter of road transport CO2 emissions.

Mainly because we've been putting more of them on the roads.

And current emissions standards for such types of vehicles are no longer in line with the EU's climate objectives.

So, as demand for road transport is expected to grow even further, the European Commission

has proposed to strengthen the CO2 standards for new heavy-duty vehicles from 2030, and extend

the scope to include urban buses, coaches, trailers and other types of lorries.

Now, what are the targets?

45% emissions reductions from 2030 compared with 2019 levels, 65% from 2035 and 90% from 2040. The Commission also proposes to make all new

city buses zero emission as of 2030. So what impact are these measures expected to have?

The objective is not only to protect the climate and ensure cleaner air, by incentivizing the

production of more energy-efficient

vehicles, demand for fossil fuels, mostly oil products such as diesel, is also expected to decrease.

And this will translate into savings for European transport operators and users.

By promoting investments into zero-emission technologies, the EU aims to strengthen its industrial

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