The ICCT helps EU policymakers set a global example on challenging transport sectors

In Fall 2023, the European Union (EU) finalized ambitious revisions and expansions to its suite of fuels policies under the recast Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), establishing targets for renewable fuels deployment through 2030. These revisions shifted policy from an energy mandate reliant on unsustainable, first-generation food crops to a carbon intensity standard targeting a 14% reduction in the emissions from fuels consumed in road, aviation, and marine uses by 2030.

The recast RED III was accompanied by ambitious new regulations establishing long-term fuel targets in the aviation and marine sectors. Unlike the road sector, which is rapidly electrifying, non-road sectors are expected to largely rely on liquid fuels through 2050. They had thus only been bound by weak voluntary climate commitments. The new EU policies mark a major shift to tackle the growing emissions from these sectors. The ReFuel EU Aviation mandate establishes a 5% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate in aviation, with steady increases towards a 70% blend target for 2050. The Fuel EU Maritime policy establishes a long-term fuel carbon intensity standard, starting with a 6% reduction in the average carbon intensity of the marine fuel mix and increasing to 70% by 2050.

The ICCT’s technical work and inputs to the European Commission were critical in developing these policies. Over 2 years, the ICCT shared public comments, briefed regulators on technical issues, and assisted the Commission and technical staff in the European Parliament to identify key safeguards necessary for the RED III.

After years of research and outreach on the sustainability risks and climate impacts associated with crop-based biofuels, the RED III moved decisively to cap the use of crop-based biofuels and phase out the use of the riskiest biofuels, such as palm oil from Southeast Asia. Since the initial implementation of biofuels policies that included food crops in the 2000s, the ICCT has been a leader in expanding policymakers’ understanding of the unintended climate impacts of shifting cropland to biofuel production, identifying which crops pose the largest climate risks, and developing policy safeguards to reduce these risks. In the last decade, the ICCT has been instrumental in shifting policymakers’ understanding of the topic, resulting in the first set of limits in 2015 and culminating in the RED III’s caps and phaseouts.

The marine and aviation fuels policies go even further to exclude food and feed-based biofuels entirely. The final regulations include key safeguards supported by the ICCT’s extensive engagement and public comments on marine and aviation fuels.

The ICCT’s work with the EU’s leadership is already bearing fruit in other jurisdictions. The UK recently passed its own even more ambitious SAF mandate, drawing upon ICCT’s feedback about potential improvements to EU policies. The ICCT is proud to support policymakers cross the globe to craft smart, ambitious fuels policy. Our work is helping create clean, sustainable transport across sectors worldwide.