The PCFV Partnership members
Michael Walsh, Independent Transport Consultant and Sheila Watson, Director of Environment at FIA Foundation
The 7th Global Partnership Meeting of the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV) was held in Szentendre, Hungary on April 28th and 29th.
The meeting, which was attended by over 30 representatives of PCFV partner organisations, focused on progress made in the past year on the core campaigns to encourage the final steps towards a global de-leading of fuel, the continued work to de-sulphurise fuels, and a growing body of work promoting clean vehicles – the partnership’s 3 core missions. Representatives of the Nairobi-based Clearing House for the Partnership presented a series of updates on the many workshops, training days and practical support materials which they have prepared since the last meeting in Beijing whilst also looking forward to a packed and exciting agenda for 2009/10.
Discussion on the lead campaign focused on the 14 countries which remain ‘leaded’, with agreement that the coming year should see renewed attempts to press them in the right direction, at the same time as looking at ways to ensure that those which have gone unleaded are maintaining that status. After a detailed presentation of the partnership’s up-dated de-sulphurisation strategy, discussion centered on how best partners might help the clearing house in Nairobi, to analyse and understand the data it is collecting on the activities of Governments ‘on the ground’ with regard to sulphur in fuels. This included an update on the Partnership’s new global database of vehicles and fuels, which has been supported by resources from FIA Foundation. Finally, the group looked forward to a year of new activities around clean vehicles, including a welcome commitment to work closely with the ‘50by50’ campaign of the Global Fuel Economy Initiative.
The event itself was hosted in Szentendre by the Regional Environmental Council for Central and Eastern Europe at its state of the art eco-conference centre. The centre, which generates more solar power than anywhere else in Hungary, was recently completed with the support of the European Union, and offered an excellent setting in which to contemplate the environmental challenges of a rapidly growing global vehicle fleet.
During the meeting Rob de Jong, Head of the Transport Unit at UNEP in Nairobi, was delighted to announce that the US EPA has agreed to contribute $3 million to future partnership work, invaluable support which was reinforced by the announcement that the US EPA will also host next year’s annual Partnership meeting in Washington DC.
FIA Foundation, which has contributed over $350,000 to the work of the Partnership since its inception was represented at the event by its Director of Environment, Sheila Watson, who said:
The work of the PCFV is truly amazing, with an impact far greater than its modest size and resources would suggest. I am delighted that the Partnership will be engaging with us in our Global Fuel Economy Initiative in the coming year, and I very much look forward to sharing ideas and information with such an expert and motivated group of people.