Despite scientific advances in alternative fuels and energy efficiency, CO2 emissions for the European transport sector are continuing to increase and remain a key challenge in creating a low-carbon economy, found an EEA report on the external drivers of transport demand.
According to the EU agency, the main cause of increased emissions is the growth in demand for transport. "Freight and passenger traffic continue to grow at a very fast pace, outstripping gains made through fuel and energy efficiency," it noted.
The EEA underlined that current efforts to reduce transport's carbon footprint have been taken within the sector itself, "ignoring the key drivers which create the demand for transport". It is thus time to move "beyond transport policy" to understand the root causes of "spiralling" growth in transport driven by developments outside the sector, in areas such as holiday travel, shopping and the world of work.
Based on three case studies analysing the food, education, business and leisure travel sectors' effects on transport demand, the report outlined a number of measures that could help mitigate transport use and thus decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
For example, the EEA suggests that food carbon labelling should be promoted to stress its impact on CO2 emissions, increase opportunities for manufacturers to co-operate with geographically closer subcontractors and encourage citizens to make fewer food shopping trips.
As for business and leisure air travel, the agency suggests that the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS; see EurActiv LinksDossier) and other pricing mechanisms should be used, and calls for the promotion of alternative modes and technologies such as rail and teleconferencing.
To reduce the number of journeys to school by car, EEA suggests building a denser network of primary schools within a sustainable transport infrastructure, in which walking and cycling would be safer for children.
