Priorities

Transport is Europe’s biggest climate problem, representing 27% of the bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions. Learn more about what Transport & Environment is doing to clean it up.

Transport is the only major sector in which emissions have grown since 1990, driving an increase in the EU’s overall emissions in 2017. If the EU wants to deliver on the climate commitments made with the Paris Agreement, Europe needs smarter, more ambitious transport policies.

We advocate for the the lowest levels of greenhouse gas emissions and air and noise pollution from transport; zero-emission vehicles, planes and ships; and pricing that makes polluters pay for pollution, not society as a whole. Below is an overview of our main areas of work.

Charging electric car

Cars

Road transport is Europe's largest source of CO2 emissions, accounting for 20% of all emissions. Cars are the biggest problem and their emissions continue to rise.

Cars

Road freight

In order to achieve climate neutrality in Europe by 2050, freight efficiency measures must come in addition to zero-emission vans and trucks moving goods on European roads.

Road freight

Planes

Emissions from aviation are a significant contributor to climate change.

Planes

Ships

At current growth rates, shipping could represent some 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Which measures could reduce its contribution to climate change?

Ships

Energy

Europe’s transport is heavily dependent on oil - around 94% of transport’s energy comes from oil.

Energy

Sustainable finance

The timely decarbonisation of our economy will not be possible without an adequate flow of private investments in sustainable economic activities. In order to achieve these flows, we need to ‘decarbonise’ the system’s very heart: capital markets.

Sustainable finance

Air quality

Air quality remains a major environmental problem. Europe needs well-enforced air pollution legislation for cars, vans, buses and trucks.

Air quality

Cities

Getting polluting cars off our streets and transforming the way we move around is urgently needed if we want to solve the air pollution health emergency and halt the climate crisis.

Cities

Rail

Rail is one of the greener modes of transport and having a higher share of passenger and freight journeys performed by train is fundamental for decarbonising the transport sector.

Rail

Climate tools

Climate tools are the collection of measures and agreements that can be applied across transport sectors to support actors to achieve rapid and deep decarbonisation.

Climate tools

Previous work

An archive of the challenges we've worked on in the past.

Previous work