Page 7 - European Energy Innovation - spring 2020 publication

Spring 2020 European Energy Innovation 7
excessively incentivised. For road
transport, it is a matter of top priority
to review the directive on road
infrastructure charges, to comply
with the ‘polluter pays’ and ‘user pays’
principles. The EU Emission Trading
System should be extended to
maritime transport. And regarding rail,
the night trains should be supported
to make credible alternatives to air
transport available.
In a nutshell, those measures are some
examples of the transport contribution
to the climate policy we need.
Urban mobility has a key role
This is however not the end of the
story, and the cities are definitely
on the first lines when it comes to
face the impacts of climate change.
Urban transport is responsible for up
to 25% of all CO2 emissions and for
some 70% of all emissions in urban
areas that are responsible for climate
change.
With estimates that suggest that by
2050 up to 82% of EU citizens will
live in urban areas, the pressure on
urban areas will only become higher.
The challenges are therefore huge
regarding urban mobility.
Concretely, the biggest game changer
is for cars. This is the first move.
When you have a look at the EU
cities, the city centres are becoming
more and more carless. It is dirty, it is on gratuity of public transport have
noisy and it is not effective. According
to some reports, between 0-10km,
electric biking is the fastest and most
reliable mode of transport.
It is therefore of major importance to
develop alternatives to private cars.
Soft mobility (i.e. bikes, rollers) is
one of the solutions in this context,
as well as making the streets
pedestrians. But we should not
forget the citizens with low-mobility
capacities or those who live in the
suburbs, far away from the economic
centres. This is why privileging
extended and efficient public
transport systems must be a priority.
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SUSTAINABLE URBAN MOBILITY
When you have a look
at the EU cities, the city
centres are becoming
more and more carless.
When it comes to public transport,
the vehicles should also comply with
very ambitious energy targets and
be completely clean. Last year, after
some rounds of negotiations, we have
agreed, together with the Council of
the European Union, to make the
threshold of clean vehicles used by
public authorities upper. This is a first part, the local elections that will take
step, but it is also up to the cities
to take the lead and to impulse a
dramatic change by themselves.
Banning fossil fuels and setting
up 0-emission areas will make
the cities cleaner, which logically
induces positive outcomes on
health. Air pollution is THE illness
of our century. Every year, 800,000
persons prematurely die because
of air pollution across Europe, and
more than 8 million across the World.
Change of paradigm will then benefit
to everyone.
Last but not least, the experiences
resulted in successes, such as in
Dunkerque (North of France) and
other French cities. This initiative
should therefore be replicated in the
European Union. It benefits to the
lower social classes, since they do
not pay for this service neither for the to make sure the cars cannot park
car. The rate occupancy of transport
significantly grows up (up to 125%),
as well as the traffic jam decreases. I
would like gratuity to be applicable in
hundreds of European cities.
The Green Wave and urban mobility
The Green wave in Europe has been
a political reality over the past year
and a half. Important successes have
indeed been recorded for our political
families, partly in regional/local areas.
The last Belgian local elections have
shown a strong interest in climate
policy and several Green mayors
have been elected. On the French
place in some weeks are a massive
opportunity for the Green party.
While Green mayors will surely be
elected, we shouldn’t miss this
occasion. Let’s convert the try and
let’s show everyone we are the most
successful decision-makers for
climate policy!
In this context, many of local political
decision-makers can be inspired
by good practices. For instance, in
Bremen (Germany), governed both by
the Green and the Socialist party since
2007, 25% of the roads are “equipped”
with biking lines, as well as the bikes
take priority in some boulevards.
In Ixelles (Belgium), the new
Green majority has decided to
set up hundreds of bike parking
infrastructures next to the road
intersections, to foster cycling and
in this specific location, to make the
pedestrian experience safer.
As presented, urban mobility can and
must contribute to climate policies
and to make the transport emissions
lower. And I am ready to help the
local authorities that are keen on
making this change a reality. ●