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Is sustainable transport policy sustainable?

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  • Jonas ELIASSON
  • Stefan PROOST

Abstract

The paper challenges part of the sustainable transport literature. Sustainable transport plans often focus on reducing carbon emissions in a specific city, region or country, and this neglects two handicaps of strong unilateral action. The first is that climate is a global commons problem, so a strong binding international climate agreement is unlikely. The second is that a unilateral reduction of oil consumption may be partially, or even completely, offset by market responses – in some circumstances, cumulative emissions may even come earlier (the “green paradox”). When a coalition of the willing reduces oil use in the transport sector, this may delay rather than reduce total emissions. This requires rethinking climate policies for the transport sector: What policies remain cost effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

Suggested Citation

  • Jonas ELIASSON & Stefan PROOST, 2014. "Is sustainable transport policy sustainable?," Working Papers of Department of Economics, Leuven ces14.17, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Economics, Leuven.
    • Handle: RePEc:ete:ceswps:ces14.17
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    8. Jichao Geng & Ruyin Long & Hong Chen & Ting Yue & Wenbo Li & Qianwen Li, 2017. "Exploring Multiple Motivations on Urban Residents’ Travel Mode Choices: An Empirical Study from Jiangsu Province in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-16, January.
    9. Neves, Sónia Almeida & Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto, 2017. "Is energy consumption in the transport sector hampering both economic growth and the reduction of CO2 emissions? A disaggregated energy consumption analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 64-70.
    10. Mogno, Caterina & Fontaras, Georgios & Arcidiacono, Vincenzo & Komnos, Dimitrios & Pavlovic, Jelica & Ciuffo, Biagio & Makridis, Michail & Valverde, Victor, 2022. "The application of the CO2MPAS model for vehicle CO2 emissions estimation over real traffic conditions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 152-159.
    11. Leung, Abraham & Burke, Matthew & Perl, Anthony & Cui, Jianqiang, 2018. "The peak oil and oil vulnerability discourse in urban transport policy: A comparative discourse analysis of Hong Kong and Brisbane," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 5-18.
    12. Andrés, Lidia & Padilla, Emilio, 2018. "Driving factors of GHG emissions in the EU transport activity," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 60-74.
    13. Aleksandra Górecka & Joanna Baran & Helga Pavlic Skender & Mirjana Grcic Fabic, 2018. "Correlation Between Inland Transport Efficiency, Gdp And Environmental Aspects In Eu Countries," Business Logistics in Modern Management, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Economics, Croatia, vol. 18, pages 453-470.
    14. Hanjin Xie & Chunmei Yang & Yanping Liu, 2023. "Urban Ecological Culture Construction and the Formation of Residents’ Green Living: Evidence from National Forest City Construction in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-20, September.
    15. Nikas, A. & Koasidis, K. & Köberle, A.C. & Kourtesi, G. & Doukas, H., 2022. "A comparative study of biodiesel in Brazil and Argentina: An integrated systems of innovation perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    16. Chaloupka, Christine & Kölbl, Robert & Loibl, Wolfgang & Molitor, Romain & Nentwich, Michael & Peer, Stefanie & Risser, Ralf & Sammer, Gerd & Schützhofer, Bettina & Seibt, Claus, 2015. "Nachhaltige Mobilität aus sozioökonomischer Perspektive – Diskussionspapier der Arbeitsgruppe "Sozioökonomische Aspekte" der ÖAW-Kommission "Nachhaltige Mobilität" (ITA-manu," ITA manu:scripts 15_02, Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA).
    17. Jingjing Liu & Hongwei Ge & Jiajie Li & Pengcheng He & Zhangang Hao & Michael Hitch, 2022. "How Can Sustainable Public Transport Be Improved? A Traffic Sign Recognition Approach Using Convolutional Neural Network," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-14, October.
    18. Geng, Jichao & Long, Ruyin & Chen, Hong & Li, Wenbo, 2017. "Exploring the motivation-behavior gap in urban residents’ green travel behavior: A theoretical and empirical study," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 282-292.
    19. Thisse, Jacques-François & Proost, Stef, 2015. "Skilled Cities, Regional Disparities, and Efficient Transport: The state of the art and a research agenda," CEPR Discussion Papers 10790, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Karol Tucki & Remigiusz Mruk & Olga Orynycz & Katarzyna Botwińska & Arkadiusz Gola & Anna Bączyk, 2019. "Toxicity of Exhaust Fumes (CO, NO x ) of the Compression-Ignition (Diesel) Engine with the Use of Simulation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, April.
    21. Venturini, Giada & Karlsson, Kenneth & Münster, Marie, 2019. "Impact and effectiveness of transport policy measures for a renewable-based energy system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    22. Hadi Jahanshahi & Zahra Alijani & Sanda Florentina Mihalache, 2023. "Towards Sustainable Transportation: A Review of Fuzzy Decision Systems and Supply Chain Serviceability," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, April.
    23. Rajib Sinha & Lars E. Olsson & Björn Frostell, 2019. "Sustainable Personal Transport Modes in a Life Cycle Perspective—Public or Private?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-13, December.
    24. Qianwen Li & Ruyin Long & Hong Chen & Jichao Geng, 2017. "Low Purchase Willingness for Battery Electric Vehicles: Analysis and Simulation Based on the Fault Tree Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-20, May.

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    JEL classification:

    • R42 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance; Transportation Planning
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy

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