The European rail sector has welcomed the publication of the final report of the study carried out for the European Commission’s Directorate General Climate Action on decarbonising the transport sector by 2050. The rail sector welcomes in particular the conclusion that the use of economic instruments to internalise the external cost of transport is the first best and most efficient approach.
José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, has already made clear the need for more effort to be made on decarbonisation, particularly in transport. ‘Towards the decarbonisation of the EU's transport sector by 2050’, the final report from the 12-month ‘EU Transport GHG: Routes to 2050?’ study that was commissioned by the European Commission, makes clear the need for a “broad, ambitious and co-ordinated strategy” to reduce transport‘s GHG emissions, which have risen by 25% since 1990. The report concludes that all available measures are going to have to be taken if transport is going to help meet the EU objective of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 80% and 95% by 2050.
The report emphasises that relying on technical improvements is not sufficient to reach the levels of reductions needed. “It seems very difficult (if not impossible) to reduce GHG emissions from transport by 50% or more through the uptake of technical options alone,” the report says. “If non-technical options were taken up in addition to technical options, GHG emissions from transport could be reduced by around 89% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels.”
The rail sector welcomes in particular the conclusion that the use of economic instruments to internalise the external cost of transport is the first best and most efficient approach. The report calls for the use of a wide range of policy instruments to stimulate the uptake of necessary options, including:
• Internalising the external costs of transport for all modes
• Harmonising pricing policies for transport
• Eliminating existing hidden subsidies and perverse incentives
Furthermore, the report points out that setting the right pricing policies will have positive effects on influencing travellers’ behaviour, as well as generating revenues and ensuring a level playing field between modes.
The rail sector also welcomes the acknowledgement in the report of the need to invest in infrastructure that favours low carbon development. “There is a strong relationship between the provision of infrastructure, spatial planning and transport speed on the one hand, and transport demand and modal split on the other hand,” the report states.
“This is an important piece of work that needs to be fully taken into account by the Commission as it draws up the Transport White Paper. It is quite clear that there is no ‘silver bullet’ to address the problem of transport emissions, but a comprehensive approach that covers all issues is essential,” comments Johannes Ludewig, Executive Director of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER).
EIM Head of policy Dan Wolff said ”The EU should be ambitious in using economic instruments to internalise the external costs of transport as ambitious goals are the necessary prerequisite to achieving concrete results.”
“If the EU is serious about meeting its CO2 emission reduction targets of 20% by 2020, a comprehensive overall emission reduction goal for the transport sector is needed,” stated Michael Clausecker, Director General of UNIFE.
‘Towards the decarbonisation of the EU's transport sector by 2050’ is available at http://www.eutransportghg2050.eu/cms/reports/.
 Rail sector welcomes strategy on reducing transport emissions | [ ] | 38 Kb |