Policy instruments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport in Europe

Transport is one sector of the European economy in which CO2 emissions are still growing, both because transport demand as a whole is growing and because the most carbon intensive modes – air and road transport – are growing fastest. The experience of Britain in the last decade shows that these trends can be slowed or reversed, although Britain's success is only partly the result of deliberate policy. Tackling the problems of greenhouse gas emissions from transport will require a mixture of the use of price, regulation and investment. But more efficient transport pricing plays a key role; without it, the other measures will be far less effective.