ITF warns CO2 policy won't achieve reduction targets

Current and foreseeable policies to mitigate carbon-dioxide (CO₂) emissions from global transport activity will not suffice to achieve the international community’s climate ambitions, according to new study published by the International Transport Forum.

It says that continued strong growth in demand for mobility means that even in the most optimistic scenario, transport CO₂ emissions in 2050 will still be at 2015 levels of around 7.5 giga-tonnes.

In its publication ITF Transport Outlook 2017, the organisation explains that this scenario already assumes that new technologies and changed behaviour lead to significantly less CO₂ being emitted in relation to the total distance travelled. In the ITF Transport Outlook’s less optimistic baseline scenario, a doubling of global transport demand will lead to an increase of transport CO₂ emissions of 60% between 2015 and 2050.

“We need to both accelerate innovation and make radical policy choices to decarbonise transport”, said ITF Secretary-General José Viegas on the occasion of the launch.

“Technology will  provide about 70% of the possible CO₂ reductions to 2050. The rest will come from doing things differently, and this is where there is still a lot of potential. We need to think much harder about things like shared mobility, changes in supply chains and even new transport modes.”

The ITF says a key factor for the difficulty in reducing transport CO₂ emissions over the long run is shifting global trade patterns. As trade moves to regions with a lack of rail or waterway infrastructure, greenhouse gas emissions from road freight will almost double. Driven by more trade among the region’s emerging economies, freight transport on intra-Asian routes will grow particularly strongly, by 250% to 2050. Operational measures such as truck-sharing, route optimisation or relaxation of delivery windows to optimise use of transport capacity would help to mitigate the emission increases here.

Urban mobility is another area of concern. Car use in cities is set to double by 2050, as fast-growing emerging economies meet mobility demand. According to the ITF analysis, cities can keep the number of cars constant at the 2015 level if they act now to put in place integrated land-use and transport policies, use pricing to manage mobility patterns and invest in accessibility through public transport.

“With the right policy mix, even fast-growing cities will be in a position provide today’s level of mobility to citizens but in a more sustainable way”, notes Jari Kauppila, Head of Modelling and Statistics at ITF.