ECF

The EU has set itself a very ambitious target: reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from the transport sector by 60 % compared to 1990. However, since 1990 transport GHG emissions have increased by about 20 %. In order to achieve that 60 % objective, the EU has introduced a number of legislation, notably on CO2 emission standards for cars and vans as well as the Fuel-Quality Directive. The results of these policies are at best mixed for the time being.

While the 2011 Transport White Paper introduced a modal-shift objective for the freight sector for trips longer than 300 km, no similar target had been proposed for short-to-medium distance passenger trips.

However, if the EU is to achieve its objective on decarbonizing transport, it needs to be a stronger proponent for a modal shift in passenger transport too! Shift policies aiming at increasing the level of cycling have proven to work and to be very cost-effective. If all Europeans would cycle by 2050 at Danish levels, between 63 and 142 million tonnes of CO2e could be saved annually, representing 12 to 26% of the target reduction set for the transport sector.