The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published a report titled 'Evaluating 15 Years of Transport and Environmental Policy Integration,' which analyses the evolution of freight and passenger transport and related impacts on the environment in the EU since 2000.
The report concludes that greater efforts, including technological innovation and policies targeting behavioral change, are needed to decarbonize the tranport sector and achieve EU emissions reduction targets.
14 December 2015: The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published a report, titled ‘Evaluating 15 Years of Transport and Environmental Policy Integration,’ which analyzes the evolution of freight and passenger transport and related impacts on the environment in the EU since 2000. The report concludes that greater efforts, including technological innovation and policies targeting behavioral change, are needed to decarbonize the tranport sector and achieve EU emissions reduction targets.
The report shows that car transport remains dominant mode of transport in the EU, despite policies to encourage greater use of environmentally friendly transport.
With regard to environmental impacts, the report’s main finding include that: since 1990, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport increased by 19.4%, making it the only economic sector within the EU from which emissions have increased; while emissions of other air pollutants have been decreasing, the difference between emission measurements during vehicle testing and real world emissions is increasing; and road traffic noise remains the most important source of environmental noise.
The report further finds that achieving decarbonization in transport requires modal shift as improvements in energy efficiency alone are insufficient. It indicates that this would require major investments in infrastructure and policies promoting environmentally friendly transport; as well as innovations, such as intelligent transport systems, new business models, or autonomous vehicles.
The report notes that improved energy efficiencies and technological factors have greatly affected the environmental performance of transport. However, EEA underlines that improvements in energy efficiency alone are often insufficient to reduce environmental pressures, and the introduction of progressively stricter technical requirements in the EU has helped to drive technology development.
The report concludes that a fundamental decarbonization of the transport sector is necessary to achieve the EU’s target of a 60% reduction in GHG emissions by 2050. This requires technological solutions as well as policies aiming for behavioral change, such as pricing of transport externalities and planning for sustainable modes of transport. [EEA Press Release] [Report Abstract] [Publication: Evaluating 15 Years of Transport and Environmental Policy Integration]