FIA boosts sustainability in Latin America with the expansion of the Life Cycle Assessment programme

Six countries in FIA Region IV have joined the Life Cycle Assessment programme to promote sustainable mobility.

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) programme will now expand into FIA Region IV countries Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay. This means that the tool will reach 36 countries worldwide, providing key information to help users make more sustainable decisions about vehicles.

The LCA programme assesses the environmental impact and total energy consumption of vehicles at every stage of their life cycle: from manufacture and use to recycling. This allows users to make better and more informed choices, when selecting a vehicle within their specific market.

FIA Region IV, which covers Central and South America, played a key role in this expansion, training FIA Mobility Member Clubs in collecting accurate data and integrating it into the programme. The FIA Foundation, GreenNCAP, IT provider TheRightMove and Joanneum Research also supported the programme expansion.

Ricardo Morales, President of FIA Region IV, said: “We are proud to extend the reach of this tool to more countries in our Region. This demonstrates our commitment to sustainable and responsible mobility that benefits both the environment and our communities.”

Initially launched in 2016, the LCA programme already includes all 27 member states of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Norway, and has been supported by FIA Mobility Clubs since its inception.

Sara Mariani, FIA Director of Sustainability and Diversity and Inclusion, said: “The expansion of this programme reaffirms our aim to build a more sustainable future. It is an initiative that allows us to tangibly measure the environmental impact of vehicles, aligning ourselves with our vision of sustainability both on the roads and on the tracks.”

As part of this initial rollout, users in the new countries will be able to access the LCA ratings of the ten most used vehicles in their markets, in conjunction with the renowned Green NCAP programme.

Alex Damyanov, Green NCAP Technical Manager, commented: “Environmental and climate protection cannot be achieved by wishful thinking, but are only viable through adequate actions on different elements of complex systems. Speaking about vehicles, we believe that the new LCA Tools will support the understanding of the several life cycle stages, which determine a car’s impact on global warming and energy use. Although challenging with regard to data collection, this first stage paves the way for further significant developments in vehicle sustainability assessment – for the sake of consumers and nature.”

The LCA programme is part of the FIA’s wider commitment to sustainability, which includes initiatives such as the FIA Environmental Accreditation Programme, the Sustainable Innovation Series and the implementation of social impact targets and transparent reporting.

This expansion not only strengthens the FIA’s environmental approach, but also provides Central and South America with a key tool to move towards more sustainable mobility.