2015 was an extraordinary year for the Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI). Energy Efficiency was included in the SDGs, and GFEI was showcased as one of the leading transport commitments at COP21 in Paris. For COP21, GFEI launched a '100 for 50by50' initiative, which aimed to increase the number of countries committing to GFEI's target of doubling fuel economy globally. In Paris, 40 new countries announced that they will be joining, as well as new funding from FIA Foundation and EC. In 2015, Chile launched a new carbon tax to promote vehicle fuel economy, Kenya announced a new age-based taxation scheme for vehicle imports, and Thailand and Vietnam introduced new fuel economy labelling schemes.

GFEI is continuing to work with countries to develop policy options and implement new policies. This is a multi-year process, and many countries are now close to implementing new policies. At the same time, GFEI is starting to work with many new countries, and support them to conduct baseline analysis of their vehicle fleet and consider options for policy development. To support this, GFEI is hosting a series of country and regional workshops and a global training and networking event.

Direct beneficiaries - new vehicle owners, indirect beneficiaries from impact of lower CO2 emissions New vehicle owners will save money from owning vehicles that have improved fuel economy, and therefore require less fuel. There are also benefits from lower CO2 emissions that will play a part in tackling climate change and the associated extreme weather events.