First round of National Stakeholder Meetings engages private and public stakeholders on transport decarbonisation
Results are only meaningful if they are relevant, address real concerns, and are communicated effectively. For this reason, PATH2ZERO is placing great emphasis and effort on bringing together various stakeholders to present project results and gather feedback along the way.
To achieve this, three workshop formats have been established to engage multi-level stakeholders, each tackling a different administrative level: National Stakeholder Groups (NSGs), European National Stakeholders Forum (ENSF), and the International Knowledge Exchange Board.
The NSGs, as their name implies, focus on bringing together national representatives of relevant stakeholder groups, including central and local governments, public sector organisations, NGOs, mobility operators and industry associations. There are nine groups, one in each project partner’s country: Germany, Greece, Finland, Hungary, France, Italy, Norway, Spain, and the UK.
The first round of NSG meetings took place over the past couple of months in Germany, Greece, Hungary, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK, with some taking place virtually and others in-person. The focus of this first round of meetings, which brought together five different stakeholder groups per meeting, was predominantly to:
- Present the project and its objectives;
- Highlight the importance and role of the NSGs;
- Discuss the current situation concerning transport-related greenhouse gas emissions at the national level; and
- Identify key challenges and potential pathways towards net-zero emissions in the transportation sector.
The first round of meetings proved successful, characterised by lively discussions and insightful exchanges. Several important conclusions were drawn up, including:
- There is a disconnect between climate change awareness and meaningful action lagging behind.
- The meeting identified key barriers to transport decarbonization, as well as good practice examples. For example, freight transport was highlighted as a persistent challenge in certain contexts, requiring greater research and investments to deliver an efficient network and adequate vehicles. Examples of good practices included intermodal public transport passes, improved cycling infrastructure and increased on-street parking costs.
- Concerns were raised regarding the sustainability of current battery technology, particularly battery waste management, and the use of hydrogen in road transport, especially in terms of storage and costs.
- It is critical to consider the political feasibility of proposed measures, especially in terms of potential negative impacts on specific population groups as a result of their implementation.
- In certain contexts, policy design relies too heavily upon incentives and should balance with measures to discourage other carbon-intensive behaviours.
- There is currently an absence of a penalty framework for certain decarbonisation measures.
- Stakeholders highlighted the need for greater homogeneity, both at the national level and European level, including the harmonisation of decarbonisation evaluation and modelling
What's next?
The NSGs will meet twice per year in each project partner country. Additionally, NSGs from different countries will convene online within the European National Stakeholder Forum once per year to share and discuss data, methods, practices, tools, and the implementation of transport pathways at the European scale.
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Authors: ICLEI Europe