Mobility and Environment: European Ambiguity

Under the COP21 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the European Union has committed itself to significantly reducing CO₂ emissions, in particular from transport. By 2030, transport, which accounted for 60% of the EU’s emissions in 2014, is expected to reduce its emissions by 30% compared with 2005 levels. However, this objective seems very ambitious in the light of recent developments. Although emissions fell in 2009–2011 owing to the economic downturn, they subsequently picked up again as economic growth resumed. As a result, in 2017, France’s transport emissions were only slightly lower than in 2000.