A United Nations working group has proposed a global method for measuring the climate impact of vehicles across their entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to dismantling and recycling at the end of their service lives.
The proposal, set out in working document ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRPE/2026/02, introduces a draft Mutual Resolution No. 5 on Automotive Life Cycle Assessment. It has been submitted to the UNECE Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE) for consideration at its 94th session in Geneva in March.
The push for a common method reflects a widely acknowledged gap. In the automotive industry, methodologies to determine cradle-to-grave carbon emissions "have so far been diverse and thus non-comparable," UNECE said when the working group was established. The proposed resolution aims to establish a globally harmonized procedure to determine the carbon footprint of vehicles across all powertrain technologies.
The methodology examines emissions across several stages of a vehicle's life, including material extraction and processing, vehicle production, operation during use, maintenance and repair, and final end-of-life treatment. The draft notes that the use phase extends beyond fuel consumption alone: "Maintenance in the use stage of a vehicle's life cycle can have a non-negligible impact on its carbon footprint," the document states.
End-of-life processing is treated as a separate stage in the proposed framework, covering dismantling, shredding, sorting, transport and recycling of vehicle materials. The proposal also addresses how traction batteries from electric vehicles should be handled at end of life, including disposal, recycling and potential second-life applications. Accounting rules for recycled materials and recovered components are included so that results can be compared across different vehicle models and manufacturers.
The resolution, once adopted, would be recommendatory rather than binding. The working group's own terms of reference state that GRPE would "recommend that Contracting Parties and manufacturers refer to this Resolution when establishing studies used for the assessment of life cycle CO2 equivalent emissions" under the 1958 and 1998 UNECE vehicle agreements.
The draft was prepared by the informal working group on Automotive Life Cycle Assessment (A-LCA), which is co-chaired by Japan and South Korea and whose secretariat is provided by CLEPA, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers. The group held its inaugural session in Okinawa, Japan, in October 2022 after Japan and Korea jointly proposed the initiative to GRPE, calling for "comprehensive, comparable and consistent values for the carbon footprint over the whole life of vehicles put on the market across the globe."
Comments on the proposal have been submitted by several governments and industry organizations. Documents linked to the March 2026 working session show that submissions were filed by Japan, South Korea, the International Council on Clean Transportation, CLEPA and OICA, the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers.
OICA has previously raised substantive concerns about the scope of the methodology. In an earlier session of the working group, the automakers' body stated: "The choice of the purpose influences the methodology. If you want an LCA for improving a product the methodology is different from one targeting government-level policy decisions." OICA also flagged that "a concern for OICA is the diversity of practices between OEM and suppliers."
The working group's own rules of procedure state that it operates by consensus, and that "when consensus cannot be reached, the Chairs of the informal working group shall present the different points of view to GRPE."
The European Commission, a contracting party to GRPE, has said it is involved in developing the UNECE resolution and "will take the development into account" as it builds its own methodology for life-cycle CO2 reporting by vehicle manufacturers, with voluntary reporting expected to begin in 2026.
Further technical discussion is expected to continue after the March session as the group works to address outstanding comments before any final adoption within the UNECE vehicle regulatory framework.
