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Is sustainable transport policy sustainable?

Author

Listed:
  • 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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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Elżbieta Szymańska & Eugenia Panfiluk & Halina Kiryluk, 2021. "Innovative Solutions for the Development of Sustainable Transport and Improvement of the Tourist Accessibility of Peripheral Areas: The Case of the Białowieża Forest Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-23, February.
    3. 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.
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    5. 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.
    6. 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).
    7. Santos, Georgina, 2017. "Road transport and CO2 emissions: What are the challenges?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 71-74.
    8. 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).
    9. 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.
    10. Konstantinos Koasidis & Anastasios Karamaneas & Alexandros Nikas & Hera Neofytou & Erlend A. T. Hermansen & Kathleen Vaillancourt & Haris Doukas, 2020. "Many Miles to Paris: A Sectoral Innovation System Analysis of the Transport Sector in Norway and Canada in Light of the Paris Agreement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-37, July.
    11. Sónia Almeida Neves & António Cardoso Marques & José Alberto Fuinhas, 2018. "Could alternative energy sources in the transport sector decarbonise the economy without compromising economic growth?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 23-40, December.
    12. Bruno De Borger & Stef Proost, 2015. "Tax and regulatory policies for European Transport – getting there, but in the slow lane," Working Papers of Department of Economics, Leuven 497597, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Economics, Leuven.
    13. 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.
    14. Espinosa Valderrama, Mónica & Cadena Monroy, Ángela Inés & Behrentz Valencia, Eduardo, 2019. "Challenges in greenhouse gas mitigation in developing countries: A case study of the Colombian transport sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 111-122.
    15. André Luiz Lopes Toledo & Emílio Lèbre La Rovere, 2018. "Urban Mobility and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Status, Public Policies, and Scenarios in a Developing Economy City, Natal, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    16. 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.
    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. 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.
    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. Andrés, Lidia & Padilla, Emilio, 2018. "Driving factors of GHG emissions in the EU transport activity," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 60-74.
    25. 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.

    More about this item

    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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