Under the Dutch Sustainable Mobility programme the 23 municipalities in the Metropolitan Region Rotterdam The Hague (MRDH) are collaborating towards clean, quiet and energy-efficient regional transport in a greener future. They have announced their ambition to reduce the CO2 emissions of the mobility and transport sector by 30% in 2025, relative to 2015.
To flesh out this ambition, the MRDH organisation and the municipalities have drawn up a policy package comprising 45 measures. This study calculates the anticipated CO2 impact of the measures and assesses the feasibility of the regional aspirations for 2025. It represents an update of the report ‘Calculating the impact of regional measures’ prepared by CE Delft for MRDH in autumn 2019.
Current local and regional policies are expected to lead to a CO2 reduction of around 4.7% (over 200 kt) in 2025 relative to 2015. This is substantially more (about 75 kt) than the reduction anticipated at the end of 2019, the result mainly of more policies being rolled out by municipalities.
After factoring in the anticipated contribution of national and EU measures, it is estimated that current policies will yield a 7% reduction in CO2 emissions relative to 2015, well below the region’s aspirations for 2025. The envisaged 45-measure policy package is projected to increase this figure to around 10%, still far short of the regional ambition for 2025.
Besides climate impacts, the study also calculated the impact of the package on air-pollutant emissions and renewable energy demand in the mobility sector.
Four ‘regional opportunities’ were also identified for achieving greater cuts in regional transport CO2 emissions. These include encouraging vehicle-sharing at public transport hubs (combined with cheap parking), reduction options in the field of work-related mobility and further greening of logistical activities.