IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v37y2015icp92-100.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is sustainable transport policy sustainable?

Author

Listed:
  • Eliasson, Jonas
  • Proost, Stef

Abstract

This paper discusses a specific part of sustainable transport policy, namely policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. We explain how assessments of such policies will overestimate their effectiveness if market responses are not taken into account. The substantial difference between market price and extraction cost of oil means that consumption reductions will be watered down by price responses causing increased consumption in other places (spatial leakage) and in the future (intertemporal leakage). The difference between market price and extraction cost also has negative implications for the viability of alternative technologies. Leakage effects become larger when consumption reductions are only undertaken by a subset of countries: we review some theoretical evidence why strong binding international climate agreements are so difficult to reach and to enforce. All this may require rethinking climate policies for the transport sector: What policies remain cost effective for reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

Suggested Citation

  • Eliasson, Jonas & Proost, Stef, 2015. "Is sustainable transport policy sustainable?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 92-100.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:37:y:2015:i:c:p:92-100
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2014.09.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X14001991
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2014.09.010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Proost, Stef & Delhaye, Eef & Nijs, Wouter & Regemorter, Denise Van, 2009. "Will a radical transport pricing reform jeopardize the ambitious EU climate change objectives?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 3863-3871, October.
    2. Musso, Antonio & Rothengatter, Werner, 2013. "Internalisation of external costs of transport–A target driven approach with a focus on climate change," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 303-314.
    3. Murdoch, James C. & Sandler, Todd, 1997. "The voluntary provision of a pure public good: The case of reduced CFC emissions and the Montreal Protocol," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 331-349, February.
    4. Johan Eyckmans & Henry Tulkens, 2006. "Simulating Coalitionally Stable Burden Sharing Agreements for the Climate Change Problem," Springer Books, in: Parkash Chander & Jacques Drèze & C. Knox Lovell & Jack Mintz (ed.), Public goods, environmental externalities and fiscal competition, chapter 0, pages 218-249, Springer.
    5. Robinson, James A. & Torvik, Ragnar, 2005. "White elephants," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2-3), pages 197-210, February.
    6. Hickman, Robin & Ashiru, Olu & Banister, David, 2010. "Transport and climate change: Simulating the options for carbon reduction in London," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 110-125, March.
    7. Christoph Böhringer, 2014. "Two Decades of European Climate Policy: A Critical Appraisal," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 8(1), pages 1-17, January.
    8. Christopher R. Knittel & Robert S. Pindyck, 2016. "The Simple Economics of Commodity Price Speculation," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 85-110, April.
    9. Hans-Werner Sinn, 2008. "Public policies against global warming: a supply side approach," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(4), pages 360-394, August.
    10. Yves Crozet, PR. & Lopez-Ruiz, Hector G., 2013. "Macromotives and microbehaviors: Climate change constraints and passenger mobility scenarios for France," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 294-302.
    11. Nordhaus, William D & Yang, Zili, 1996. "A Regional Dynamic General-Equilibrium Model of Alternative Climate-Change Strategies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 741-765, September.
    12. Clemens Haftendorn & Franziska Holz, 2010. "Modeling and Analysis of the International Steam Coal Trade," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 205-230.
    13. Dieter Helm, 2010. "Government failure, rent-seeking, and capture: the design of climate change policy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 26(2), pages 182-196, Summer.
    14. Mustafa H. Babiker & Thomas F. Rutherford, 2005. "The Economic Effects of Border Measures in Subglobal Climate Agreements," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 99-126.
    15. Proost, Stef & Van Dender, Kurt, 2012. "Energy and environment challenges in the transport sector," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 77-87.
    16. van der Werf, Edwin & Di Maria, Corrado, 2012. "Imperfect Environmental Policy and Polluting Emissions: The Green Paradox and Beyond," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 6(2), pages 153-194, March.
    17. Sumon Majumdar & Sharun W. Mukand, 2004. "Policy Gambles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1207-1222, September.
    18. Nakamura, Kazuki & Hayashi, Yoshitsugu, 2013. "Strategies and instruments for low-carbon urban transport: An international review on trends and effects," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 264-274.
    19. Meghan R. Busse & Christopher R. Knittel & Florian Zettelmeyer, 2013. "Are Consumers Myopic? Evidence from New and Used Car Purchases," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 220-256, February.
    20. Barrett, Scott, 1994. "Self-Enforcing International Environmental Agreements," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 46(0), pages 878-894, Supplemen.
    21. Lutz Kilian, 2008. "Exogenous Oil Supply Shocks: How Big Are They and How Much Do They Matter for the U.S. Economy?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 216-240, May.
    22. Amihai Glazer & Stef Proost, 2012. "Informational Benefits of International Treaties," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 53(2), pages 185-202, October.
    23. Tol, Richard S.J., 2012. "A cost–benefit analysis of the EU 20/20/2020 package," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 288-295.
    24. Barrett, Scott, 2013. "Climate treaties and approaching catastrophes," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 235-250.
    25. David L. Greene, 2010. "Why the New Market for New Passenger Cars Generally Undervalues Fuel Economy," OECD/ITF Joint Transport Research Centre Discussion Papers 2010/6, OECD Publishing.
    26. Barla, Philippe & Proost, Stef, 2012. "Energy efficiency policy in a non-cooperative world," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 2209-2215.
    27. Bård Harstad, 2012. "Buy Coal! A Case for Supply-Side Environmental Policy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 120(1), pages 77-115.
    28. Nicholas Stern, 2008. "The Economics of Climate Change," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 1-37, May.
    29. Banister, David, 2008. "The sustainable mobility paradigm," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 73-80, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Santos, Georgina, 2017. "Road transport and CO2 emissions: What are the challenges?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 71-74.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    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.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jing Wu & Jean-Claude Thill, 2018. "Climate change coalition formation and equilibrium strategies in mitigation games in the post-Kyoto Era," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 573-598, August.
    2. Johan Eyckmans & Michael Finus, 2007. "Measures to enhance the success of global climate treaties," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 73-97, March.
    3. Mason, Charles F. & Polasky, Stephen & Tarui, Nori, 2017. "Cooperation on climate-change mitigation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 43-55.
    4. Eskeland, Gunnar S., 2013. "Leadership in Climate Policy: Is there a case for Early Unilateral Unconditional Emission Reductions?," Discussion Papers 2013/6, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    5. Sareh Vosooghi & Maria Arvaniti & Frederick Van Der Ploeg, 2022. "Self-enforcing climate coalitions for farsighted countries: integrated analysis of heterogeneous countries," Economics Series Working Papers 971, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    6. Buchholz Wolfgang & Heindl Peter, 2015. "Ökonomische Herausforderungen des Klimawandels," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 324-350, December.
    7. Johannes Pfeiffer, 2017. "Fossil Resources and Climate Change – The Green Paradox and Resource Market Power Revisited in General Equilibrium," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 77.
    8. Johan Eyckmans & Michael Finus, 2006. "New roads to international environmental agreements: the case of global warming," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 7(4), pages 391-414, December.
    9. Proost, Stef & Van Dender, Kurt, 2012. "Energy and environment challenges in the transport sector," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 77-87.
    10. Hendrik Ritter & Mark Schopf, 2014. "Unilateral Climate Policy: Harmful or Even Disastrous?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 58(1), pages 155-178, May.
    11. Zili Yang, 2016. "Mitigation Cost And Climate Damage Versus Incentive Shifts Of Climate Coalition," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 7(04), pages 1-24, November.
    12. Carraro, Carlo & Bosello, Francesco & Buchner, Barbara & Raggi, Davide, 2003. "Can Equity Enhance Efficiency? Some Lessons from Climate Negotiations," CEPR Discussion Papers 3606, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Barbara Buchner & Carlo Carraro & Igor Cersosimo & Carmen Marchiori, 2002. "Back to Kyoto? US Participation and the Linkage between R&D and Climate Cooperation," CESifo Working Paper Series 688, CESifo.
    14. Robert Hahn & Robert Ritz, 2014. "Optimal Altruism in Public Good Provision," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1403, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    15. Frederick van der Ploeg, 2013. "Cumulative Carbon Emissions and the Green Paradox," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 5(1), pages 281-300, June.
    16. BRECHET, Thierry & GERARD, François & TULKENS, Henry, 2007. "Climate coalitions: a theoretical and computational appraisal," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2007003, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    17. Ferreira-Filho, Joaquim Bento de Souza, 2003. "The Free Trade Area of Americas and the Regional Development in Brazil," Conference papers 331114, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    18. Dengler, Sebastian & Gerlagh, Reyer & Trautmann, Stefan T. & van de Kuilen, Gijs, 2018. "Climate policy commitment devices," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 331-343.
    19. Rahel Aichele, 2013. "Trade, Climate Policy and Carbon Leakage - Theory and Empirical Evidence," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 49.
    20. Carbone, Jared C. & Helm, Carsten & Rutherford, Thomas F., 2009. "The case for international emission trade in the absence of cooperative climate policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 266-280, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate policy; Sustainable transport; Oil consumption; International negotiation; Fuel efficiency of cars;
    All these keywords.

    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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:37:y:2015:i:c:p:92-100. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.