Government leadership and transport industry commitment to prioritising low-carbon needed

New research by DCU academics has urged the government to provide leadership on low-carbon solutions for the transport sector and for the industry itself to make transitioning to low-carbon an immediate priority.

The research paper “Advancing the Low Carbon Transition in Irish Transport” by Dr Laura Devaney and Dr Diarmuid Torney, DCU School of Law & Government examines how a low-carbon transition in Irish transport can be better facilitated by changes to governance institutions and the broader policy system.

Both Dr Torney and Dr Devaney appear before today’s sitting of the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism & Sport to discuss the report.

Coming in the wake of this week’s publication of the all-of-government Climate Action Plan, the paper examines the topic under three main themes; firstly how the transport system operates, including complexities and demands; the second area of focus is on competing priorities in the transport sector and the concentration of a carbon-intensive transport system where there is no consensus on what a transition to a low-carbon system will entail.The third theme identifies who shapes the transport outcomes, the governance landscape and also the opportunities for collaboration.

"Ireland has struggled to decarbonise the transport sector. Emissions fell during the recession but have grown significantly since.

The results of the local elections showed that there is strong public demand for increased climate action.

The warnings from climate scientists are clear and urgent. We need to tackle transport emissions head on,” said Dr Diarmuid Torney, DCU’s School of Law & Government.

“Our report looks at how the governance architecture could be better aligned to advance a low-carbon transition in Irish transport.

Our recommendations are particularly pertinent in light of the recent Oireachtas Committee report on climate action and the all of government plan for climate action,” added Dr Laura Devaney, DCU’s School of Law & Government.

Key Findings: 

Transport sector is pulled in many different directions with tensions between public and private entities, rural and urban divides and special interests playing a strong role.

A collaborative and reflective approach to policy making is recommended with strong stakeholder engagement essential in order to enhance transparency and build trust.

Low-carbon approaches are not a priority for the transport industry at this point in time. It is recommended that institutional priorities are challenged and that transport policy is aligned with international sustainability thinking which promotes an “Avoid, Shift, Improve” (ASI) framework for both passenger and freight transport.

The governing system for transport is deeply fragmented with authority spread across a number of institutions with competing perspectives and priorities.

Greater supports need to be provided to find “bottom-up” initiatives and acknowledgement of the differences between transport solutions in rural and urban areas and between passenger versus freight transport. It is recommended developing and tailoring transport solutions to local contexts.

Government needs to provide low-carbon leadership and to that end, high-level direction from the highest levels of central government is required. The public sector should lead by example and adopt a low-carbon approach by switching to electric versions of fleets.

Transport stakeholders should be given a statutory mandate to deliver on low-carbon transition. Institutional remedies to overcome existing tensions and challenges should be used, including task-forces, multi-modal transport hubs and forums.

In the case of forums, this is suggested in the context of peer-to-peer learning whereby villages, towns and cities across Ireland are provided with opportunities to learn from one another to scale up low-carbon transport solutions.

“Governance institutions are key enabling factors for decarbonisation across economy and society.

The international literature on governance of low-carbon transition points to the importance of both bottom-up innovation and experimentation and top-down direction from central government in creating change,” added Dr Torney.

The research paper “Advancing the Low Carbon Transition in Irish Transport” by Dr Laura Devaney and Dr Diarmuid Torney, DCU School of Law & Government was prepared for the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) as part of the NESC Research Series Paper (No 13, May 2019)