Everyday transport: on the road to carbon neutrality

The transport sector is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) in France, accounting for over 31% of total emissions. To meet government commitments to limit global warming, we need to limit these emissions. But changing the mobility habits of the French is no easy task. Dependence on road transport, urban sprawl and energy prices are all factors to be taken into account.

The Institut Montaigne has set up a working group to find concrete solutions to decarbonization issues. Fully committed to environmental, social and governance transitions, Eurogroup consulting acted as rapporteur on the group's project team, co-chaired by Matthias Fekl and Benjamin Fremaux. The conclusions of their work are published in a report entitled "Transport du quotidien: en route vers le sans carbone", which sets out 12 concrete proposals for decarbonizing road transport.

CONCRETE, PRAGMATIC SOLUTIONS TO DECARBONIZE TRANSPORT

As recent social crises have shown, acceptance by French citizens is a sine qua non for the success of decarbonization policies. Technological and macroeconomic levers can be used to bring about profound and lasting change. But beyond that, understanding individual habits is a key factor in transformation.

TRANSFORMING URBAN LOGISTICS

Proposal no. 1

Encourage local authorities to adopt a harmonized vision of last-mile urban logistics on a territory-wide scale, to enable more optimized actions for urban logistics players.

Proposal no. 2

Empower Mobility Organizing Authorities (M.O.A.) to develop a mutualized offer of depot lockers, particularly in urban centers.

Proposal no. 3

Develop an "eco-score" on GHG emissions to be displayed at the time of online purchase for the different delivery methods on offer, to raise awareness and guide consumer choice.

Proposal no. 4

Facilitate the implementation of solutions to reduce the volume of voids transported, both on each route and within each package.

BETTER SHARING OF PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURES

Proposal no. 6

Offer all elected representatives and technical departments of local authorities a guide to harmonized cycling facilities, and support the development of the skills of the departments in charge, in order to speed up the development of quality facilities and encourage the use of bicycles.

Proposal no. 7

Encourage the modal shift from individual vehicles to public transport in suburban areas by developing multimodal road interchanges on expressways and introducing bus-only lanes from these interchanges.

INVOLVE COMPANIES IN CHANGING THEIR MOBILITY PRACTICES

Proposal no. 8

Enable companies to allocate the mobility package to employees in lump-sum form via a single application, by obliging mobility operators to accept the full interface, including payment, with third-party applications facilitating tracking of these expenses.

Proposal no. 9

Encourage mobility players to set up inter-company mobility plans in business parks through "partner committees".

Proposal no. 10

Support the development of car-sharing solutions by subsidizing and promoting them in areas where public transport is underdeveloped.

SUPPORTING MOBILITY AUTHORITIES IN MANAGING MOBILITY CHANGES

Proposal no. 11

Encourage the Mobility Organizing Authorities (AOM) of major metropolises to call on engineering expertise to implement high-impact initiatives in areas that are still under-exploited (data sharing, development of soft mobility, etc.), with a view to developing these skills and rolling out comparable initiatives across all AOMs.

FACILITATING THE ADOPTION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Proposal no. 12

Facilitate the installation of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in three priority white zones: parking lots in multi-family residential buildings, freeway service stations and underground public parking lots.

WORKING GROUP COMPOSITION

Chairmen

Matthias Feklfounding partner of the Audit-Duprey-Fekl law firm, former minister of the French government
Benjamin Fremaux, Senior Fellow Energy & Climate, Institut Montaigne and Managing Director, Idex

Working group

Pierre AubouinDirector, Infrastructure and Mobility Department, Caisse des Dépôts Group
Muriel BarnéoudDirector of Corporate Social Responsibility, La Poste Group
Eudoxe Denis, Director of Public Affairs, Plastic Omnium
Véronique HachéDirector of the "Smart Mobility" Master's program, École des Ponts Paristech and Télécom Paris
Christophe HugExecutive Vice President, Project Management, VINCI Autoroutes
Cécile Maisonneuve, Senior Fellow Cities, Territories, Sustainable development, Institut Montaigne
Olivier StorchExecutive Vice President, Asia Pacific, Americas and New Urban Services, Geopost
Julien Touati, ExCom Member and Corporate Development DirectorMeridiam

Project team

Clémence Almérasin charge of energy and sustainable development studies, Institut Montaigne
Guillaume Brussetconsultant, Eurogroup Consulting
Jérôme CointotManaging Partner, Eurogroup Consulting
Sophie ConradHead of Public Policy, Institut Montaigne
Roland FrackChief Financial Officer, Nuward SMR Project, EDF
Marin GillotResearch Manager, Institut Montaigne
Thibault GuibertPartner, Eurogroup Consulting
Camille Ha-Thucresearch assistant, Institut Montaigne
Élise Lannaudresearch assistant, Institut Montaigne

An article by

Jérôme Cointot

Director

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