Energy efficiency in road transport after the WSSD: and evolving area of environmental law

Abstract

The recent World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) has given a strong impetus to the need to improve energy efficiency, with the transport sector singled out as the sector of the economy with the most potential for efficiency gains. This article provides a comprehensive list of future policy options to improve motor vehicle fuel efficiency, grouped under four headings: planning and development laws, laws regulating the motor vehicle industry, fiscal incentives and laws promoting alternative fuels. If implemented, these changes would give flesh to the calls for action demanded in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The article explains recent developments in this field at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific to implement the WSSD-promoted reforms in our region.