Can sustainable transport policies cause companies to adopt responsible behaviour ? The case of the textile and clothing industry

Faced with the growing criticism of the externalities of transport, and freight in particular, transport policies have gradually set sustainable development targets. Although the objectives have evolved, the levers for bringing about change have remained the same: mainly the infrastructures made available and the charges for using them. The mid-term review of the 2001 European Commission White Paper recognises that these options have had limited success and that the problem of imbalance between modes of transport remains unchanged. This review advocates using a broader and more flexible set of tools for action. In our view, the problem of public policy options for transport is two-fold: * they are constructed on the basis of a particular idea of sustainable transport and consequently they hinge on a single objective: modal shift * they obscure the variety of determining factors in the choice of transport for companies and in doing so only emphasise a few levers for action The aim of this paper is to draw attention to the diversity of representations of sustainable transport for companies, but also the multiplicity of factors that might promote a more sustainable orientation in the choice of transport (1). We employ régulation theory to shed light on this diversity and to highlight companies' resistance and motivation toward the implementation of sustainable strategies in the area of transport (2). Finally, we illustrate our demonstration using the example of the textile and clothing industry (3).