Regulatory reforms to accelerate the transport transition

How the IKI supports partner countries in their transition to zero-emission mobility.

If it is to meet global climate goals, the transport sector must make a rapid shift to zero-emission technologies. While debates often focus on electric vehicle technology, charging infrastructure or driving range, a key ingredient for success is sometimes overlooked: effective regulation.

Vehicle regulations – such as CO₂ emission standards for manufacturers, or taxes and incentives for consumers – send strong market signals. They influence what kind of vehicles are produced, imported and sold, and they help ensure greener choices are both available and attractive. But designing and implementing such rules is no simple task. It requires reliable data, detailed technical studies, and close cooperation between ministries, agencies, industry and civil society – a challenge for many emerging and developing economies.

This is where the IMPROVE (Introducing Measures, Pathways and Roadmaps for Optimising Vehicle Efficiency and Electrification) project, funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI), comes in.  The project supports Colombia, Kenya, Morocco and Thailand in developing the policies and regulations that can accelerate their shift to cleaner transport.

Laying the foundations

Every country’s path to sustainable mobility is different. IMPROVE began by mapping the legal, policy and market realities in each partner country: Which vehicle regulations already exist? How are cars taxed? Who is responsible for what? How many cars, vans and motorcycles are sold each year, and where do they come from?

In Kenya, IMPROVE‘s analysis revealed a unique window of opportunity: The development of a new policy had put electric mobility high on the political agenda – an ideal moment to push for strong regulations, backing-up the vision to position Kenya as a leader in electric mobility in Africa. Different regulatory options were assessed in a participatory process, in which Kenyan policymakers decided to focus on fuel economy standards. This policy instrument sets minimum efficiency requirements for how far a vehicle must be able to travel using a certain amount of fuel. Similar analyses, identifying both opportunities for and barriers to change, were carried out for Colombia, Morocco and Thailand and helped tailor the approach to the country context.

Getting the right people around the table

Good regulation is a team effort. In each country, IMPROVE helped set up inter-institutional working groups bringing together key ministries and government agencies – responsible for transport, energy and the environment – as well as supporting organisations like the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the ClimateWorks Foundation.

In Morocco, the Ministries of Transport, Finance, Industry, Energy and the Vehicle Importers Association came together in July 2025 to discuss the basis for establishing a feebate- a mechanism that taxes high polluting vehicles in order to finance discounts for low-emission ones, giving consumers and producers an incentive to go greener. Similar exchanges in other partner countries have helped align interests and build trust, while targeted training sessions and knowledge sharing have strengthened the skills of the technical staff involved in the policy design.

From data collection to decision making

Robust laws need robust data. IMPROVE has supported partners in gathering and analysing information on vehicle numbers, fuel consumption, brands composition, and CO₂ emissions. In Thailand, this work will soon result in a new data portal where fleet and emission information from different sources will be integrated – a resource that has so far been missing. With robust baselines in place, expert organisations such as the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) have started to model scenarios to estimate the potential impact of new regulations. This evidence base is now guiding the drafting of policies that are both ambitious and realistic.

Looking ahead

The pace of progress varies between countries, depending on prior work and data availability. Colombia is among the front-runners, expecting to release its CO₂ standard for light-duty vehicles for public consultation by the end of 2025. Across all partner countries, next steps include public outreach and consultation with industry and civil society, drafting legal texts, and designing monitoring and enforcement systems.

Well-designed regulations, backed by strong compliance mechanisms, can make a substantial contribution to cleaner transport and the uptake of electric mobility– both essential steps to achieving the targets of the Paris Agreement. Building on progress in light-duty vehicles, the focus can in future expand to other high-emitting segments such as buses and trucks.

Priority field of action: Advancing the mobility transition