Policy: Consumer Awareness Campaigns

Policies that strengthen linkages between increasing consumer awareness and vehicle taxation can potentially have synergistic effects for transport carbon abatement. In Sweden, the widespread dissemination of the concept of the ‘green’ car was central in raising consumer awareness of the links between consumer vehicle purchasing and climate impacts. This is thought to have increased public acceptance of the vehicle tax (Borup, 2007). In the UK an environmental label was trialled in 2003 based on VED emission bands (Foley, 2003; AEA, 2007). By 2005, a colour coded fuel economy label for new vehicles directly linked to VED bands was introduced and is now found in the majority of new car showrooms. This was part of a larger communication campaign to promote smarter driving and vehicle purchasing supported by TV and radio coverage, the national press and on-line initiatives targeting consumer vehicle purchases (Gray et al., 2006; Defra, 2007; Veitch and Bakir, 2007).