On October 23, the EU Council adopted the new 2030 targets. The 40% cut in Greenhouse Gas emissions will not be achieved if transport does not contribute its fair share. ECF explains what this has to do with cycling.

transport is the biggest single source of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) in the EU. Photo FredArt - Flickr

Yesterday late at night, after much controversy the EU leaders agreed to adopt targets on climate and energy for post-2020:

- at least 40% domestic GHG reductions compared to 1990;  a share of at least 27% renewable energy in the energy mix, and at least 27% indicative energy efficiency target, which could be reviewed to 30% by 2020.

The agreement also included a section on transport. This is only fair enough as transport is the biggest single source of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) in the EU (31% 2012). In detail it says in the Council agreement: “It is important to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and risks related to fossil fuel dependency in the transport sector. The European Council therefore invites the Commission to further examine instruments and measures for a comprehensive and technology neutral approach for the promotion of emissions reduction and energy efficiency in transport, for electric transportation and for renewable energy sources in transport also after 2020. […].” 

Over the past 10 – 15 years, cycling has expanded, grown and shows today a huge potential as a new technology. Just think about the 1 million e-bikes (mostly pedelecs) that hit European roads in 2013. Or the more than 400 European cities have introduced bike-sharing schemes. However, ECF’s view is that it is not only new technology in the form of improved propulsion systems or better fuels that can deliver results. Shifting individual motorized trips to cycling can go a long way as well in order to achieve the target of a 60 % cut in GHG emissions in the transport sector by 2050 (compared to 1990 levels) that the Commission set in the Transport 2011 White Paper.

If every European cycled by 2050 as much as the average Dane did in 2000, this would save between 63 and 142 million tonnes of CO2e per year. Photo: Klaas Brumann - Flickr

Cycling can reduce GHG emission too

In a study ECF published in 2011 we calculated that if every European cycled by 2050 as much as the average Dane did in 2000 – 188 vs 936 km/year/person  - this would save between 63 and 142 million tonnes of CO2 per year, depending on the scenario. This in itself would represent a 12 to 26 % of the -60 % reduction target set for the transport sector by 2050. It speaks for itself that this would also substantially help decreasing transport’s dependency on oil and improve EU energy security: EU oil importations could be reduced by as much as 9 %.

… and deliver much more

Improving car propulsion systems and fuel technology obviously can reduce emissions, but it does not deliver on congestion easing, on improving physical activity of EU’s citizens, or on the quality of the public realm in our towns and cities. The beauty about cycling is that it does all that in one, and that at a very cost-efficient price.

In our European Parliament 2014 election manifesto ECF listed 10 key measures to get more people cycling more often. The key is to achieve a level-playing field for cycling in infrastructure investment and taxation treatment with other modes of transport. ECF recommends the EU to demonstrate its leadership by developing an EU Action Plan on Cycling to bring it all together.