Transport sector policies already contribute to moderating greenhouse gas emissions
from road vehicles and are increasingly designed to contribute to overall societal targets to
mitigate climate change. The Round Table investigated the effectiveness and costs of
various mitigation options. The question of how to decide on the distribution of abatement
efforts across sectors of the economy was also discussed. Within the broad topic of
addressing greenhouse gas emissions from transport, the Round Table focused on
emissions of CO2 from road transport and in particular from light-duty passenger vehicles.
Policies that reduce fuel consumption below non-intervention levels are in place in most
countries, many adopted for reasons other than reducing CO2 emissions. In the US, both
fuel taxes and fuel economy regulations have been in force for some decades. European
governments have adopted high fuel taxes but are now considering introducing fuel economy
regulations.
A first core question for the Round Table was whether such a combination of
instruments is justified. A second question was whether current policies, and the level of
taxes and standards, are in line with societal climate change mitigation goals and, more
generally, how such goals ought to be defined.
