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Is sustainable transport policy sustainable?

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  • 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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    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. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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).
    14. Santos, Georgina, 2017. "Road transport and CO2 emissions: What are the challenges?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 71-74.
    15. 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.
    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. 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).
    19. 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.
    20. 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.
    21. DE BORGER, Bruno & PROOST, Stef, 2015. "Tax and regulatory policies for European transport - getting there, but in the slow lane," Working Papers 2015009, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    22. 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.
    23. 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.
    24. 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.

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    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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