- Elimination of Automotive Leaded Petrol
The PCFV has been most successful in the global elimination of automotive leaded petrol. At the time of its formation in 2002, 117 countries world-wide were still using leaded petrol, with 86 countries supported through the PCFV to phase out leaded petrol. In 2006, the first major success was achieved as the Sub-Saharan Africa went unleaded. The last country to switch was Algeria in July 2021, following a 19-year campaign.
Leaded petrol poisoning has been one of the world’s most serious environmental health problems, responsible for 90 per cent or more of human lead exposure. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) commissioned a study (Hatfield, Journal of Environmental Health, 2011) which estimated the benefits of the global elimination of leaded petrol at over 1.2 million premature deaths avoided per year, of which 125,000 would be children. The overall global benefit of eliminating leaded petrol adds up to US $2.45 trillion per year.
Download World Lead Map.
- The Sulphur Campaign
While the Global North has significantly reduced fuel Sulphur levels to 10 parts per million (ppm), in developing and transitional countries the average Sulphur levels -particularly in diesel fuels - are still significantly high and may even reach 10,000 ppm. High Sulphur levels in fuels while hindering the effective utilization of cleaner vehicle technologies, are also a major source of harmful pollutants. Ultra-low Sulphur fuels at 10 ppm are critical to lowering direct emissions of particulate matter from on-road traffic (that are of great concern due to their health impacts) and black carbon emissions (an important climate pollutant).
The PCFV measurable goal agreed by partners at the 4th Global Partners Meeting held in December 2005 is 50 ppm and below Sulphur in petrol and diesel fuels. There has been considerable progress in lowering Sulphur levels in fuels in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Central and Eastern Europe regions. While some of this progress has been at city and national levels, there is also effort to support sub-regions to have a harmonized approach to implement cleaner fuel standards. For example, the East Africa Community was the first sub-region in the African continent to transition to low sulphur fuels in January 2015. This transition resulted in the implementation of standards allowing a maximum Sulphur content of 50 ppm in diesel and 150 ppm in petrol, with petrol Sulphur further reduced to 50 ppm in 2019.
Download the Global Sulphur Levels Map.
