Published: 03 Mar 2008
- The transport sector in the EU must apply
rigorous measures to help Europe meet its
greenhouse gas emission
targets, says a new report published by
the European Environment Agency.
With passenger volumes
steadily increasing and freight transport
growing at a faster pace than the economy,
the movement of goods is becoming less efficient,
in spite of technological progress. The
study Climate for a transport change urges
policy-makers to set challenging, but realistic
targets for this sector, while addressing
transport demand 'in a serious and unbiased
way'.
'I am convinced that
we can limit the spiralling growth of emissions
from the transport sector', says Professor
Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director of
the EEA. 'The unrestrained growth of transport
activities creates too many side-effects
which concern us all, such as noise and
air pollution. It is also inflicting severe
damage upon Europe’s biodiversity.'
'EU transport policy
must act upon this growth of emissions',
says Professor McGlade. 'If transport, and
particularly road transport, had followed
the trends of other economic sectors, we
could have shown international leadership
by having reached our greenhouse gas emission
targets under the Kyoto Protocol several
years ago.'
The report, presented
today in Brussels to the European Parliaments’
Committee on Climate Change goes well beyond
the provision of emissions data from the
transport sector and urges integration of
land use and transport in urban planning.
Across the EU-15, cities account for roughly
80 % of traffic congestion costs, including
loss of working hours.
'Transport has been
a free-rider for too long when it comes
to the fight against global warming and
carbon emissions. Governments and citizens
need to rethink radically their approach
to transport policy — if nothing else, out
of self-concern in protecting their health.
We cannot continue to give privileges to
less efficient transport modes', says Professor
McGlade.
This EU-wide study reveals
that voluntary commitments by car manufacturers
to improve efficiency in vehicles have not
resulted in sufficient gains. In addition,
the occupancy rates of private vehicles
have gradually been going down. Approximately
12 % of the overall EU emissions of CO2
come from fuel burnt by passenger cars.
International aviation
and maritime transport activities are not
included in the Kyoto protocol commitments,
in part because of the difficulties to allocate
emissions to a specific country.
Background on the reportThe
report 'Climate for a transport change'
is the annual publication from the EEA's
Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism
(TERM), which monitors the progress and
effectiveness of attempts to integrate transport
and environment strategies.
The report aims to cover
all EEA member countries.
EU-27: Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, United Kingdom.
EEA member countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Spain, Slovak Republic,
Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United
Kingdom.
About the European Environment
Agency (EEA)
The EEA is based in
Copenhagen. The agency aims to help achieve
significant and measurable improvement in
Europe's environment through the provision
of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable
information to policy makers and the public.
Contact informationFor media enquiries contact
Òscar Romero Sanchez
Press Officer
