Policy: Emissions Standards & Manufacturer Agreements

There are potential synergies to be captured between VED, emission standards and manufacturer agreements (Gray et al., 2006; King, 2007; HM Treasury, 2008). HM Treasury (2008) and the King Review (2007) suggest a number of air quality improvements have resulted from a combination of these instruments claiming that air quality emissions in the UK are 1/20^th of what they were 20 years ago with emissions of NO_X and PM₁₀ falling 50% between 1990 – 2000. It is also expected that improvements will increase with progressively strict EURO IV and V standards coming into force between 2006 and 2009 (King, 2007; HM Treasury, 2008). Moreover, the UK government does not disaggregate projected CO₂ emission savings for the graduated VED but rather assumes carbon savings are achieved through a combination of voluntary manufacturer packages, company car taxation and VED (Defra, 2007). This aggregation is not particularly useful in determining the effectiveness of VED as a stand alone policy but implies that it needs to be implemented alongside other policy instruments to capture full benefits.