Greenhouse gas emission of Hungarian transport sector

Abstract

Mobility is important for welfare. Therefore, the community must be able to provide its citizens and the commercial sector with a safe, efficient and reliable transport system. This system must be accessible to everyone under the same conditions, and must contribute towards countryward employment and growth. The transportation sector, led by the automobile, has been cited constantly as a major contributor through human intervention to climate change. In future, greenhouse gas emission and global warming will be key issues for society. Short of banning car use, the challenge remains one of understanding better what mix of actions might contribute in non-marginal ways to reducing the growth of greenhouse gas emissions and the absolute amount of carbon dioxid produced by automobiles. This paper evaluates instruments aimed at a number of policy objectives linked to efficiency, sustainability and equity, focusing on social surplus gains in addition to cost effectiveness; but in particular the ability to reduce car bon dioxid. Since one of the biggest challenges the community faces is to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this presupposes a transport-efficient society.