European cities falling short of transport decarbonisation ambitions

A report from the Clean Cities Campaign, a coalition of organisations pushing for European city leaders to reach zero-emission mobility by the turn of the decade, has found no major European city is fully on track to move its citizens onto more climate-friendly forms of transport by 2030. 

The lack of progress made by the 36 cities assessed, the report concludes, threatens to undermine a vital component of efforts to cut greenhouse gases.

The report examined whether cities have “what it takes” to fully decarbonise their transport systems through the lenses of access to active travel options like walking or cycling, safety, affordable public transport, congestion, charging infrastructure and clean air.

Oslo came top in the report, based on measures ranging from more space for walking and cycling to road safety and affordability of public transport, with a score of 71.5%. It was followed by Amsterdam with 65.5% and Helsinki with 64.2%. The lowest-ranked city in the report was Naples with 37.8%.

A score of less than 100% indicates that too little is being done to achieve zero emission mobility by 2030.

London, the highest ranked UK city, came 12th on the list, with 58.8%. Other UK cities assessed are Birmingham (17th, 52.8%), Manchester (30th, 42.1%) and Edinburgh (31st, 41.3%). In terms of overall performance, London and Birmingham were rated as “C”s, Manchester and Edinburgh as “D”s.

Strikingly the English cities occupied the three bottom places in terms of affordability of public transport. 

Paul Tuohy, Chief Executive of London-based Campaign for Better Transport, one of the Clean Cities consortium members, said, “This report makes clear the link between the cost of public transport and efforts to decarbonise transport. We currently have a situation where the greenest transport option isn't always the cheapest and it should be. We need more affordable public transport to help us achieve the government’s vision where public transport, cycling and walking are the first choice when it comes to transport.”

Barbara Stoll, Director of the Clean Cities Campaign added “Our report should be a wake-up call to city leaders across Europe. Cities need to take much more serious action to radically reduce emissions from transport and they must set a clear vision, timeline, and a pathway for fully transitioning to active, shared, and electric mobility by 2030”.

Nearly three in four Europeans live in cities, adds Stoll, making urban centres critical in shifting toward a sustainable, environmentally friendly future. According to the European Commission, urban mobility accounts for almost a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse gases from transport, which is the only sector to have seen an increase in emissions since 1990. 

The Clean Cities Campaign research, says Stoll, shows that significant improvements are needed to make sure cities can play their role in meeting the region’s zero emission goal. These include setting clear and binding zero-emission urban mobility goals for 2030 and reviewing EU legislation accordingly.

Cities were benchmarked against official or widely accepted references (such as the World Health Organization air-quality guidelines or the EU’s ‘vision zero’ for road safety). Where such references didn’t exist, a best-in-class approach was used. Ricardo Energy & Environment carried out the data collection and analysis using European-wide datasets where possible while also contacting each city for additional information.

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