The real costs of transports in alpine corridors: towards an Economic evaluation?

Mr. Leuxe, from the French Ministry of Ecology,presented at the SWOMM 2010 some analysis and considerations regarding the external costs of transport in the Alps and explained to the public how to assess their value.

The information and figures offered by Leuxe were developed both during the works conducted from 2003 to 2007 by the Sub-Group Costs of the Working Group of Transport of the Alpine Convention (see the Report The True Costs of Transport on the Transalpine Corridors) than from those carried out by the French Ministry of Ecology, within the context of the so-called environmental policy framework “Grenelle de l’Environnement”.

Mr. Leuxe highlighted some difficulties on the way for the evaluation of the external costs of transport, as different methodologies are often used by each Alpine country, where also infrastructures and tariffs systems may be much dissimilar.

Following an in-depth economic investigation, Mr. Leuxe stated that the users should be given with the freedom of choosing modes of transportation in the Alps, but the price of externalities have to be assessed and included in the tariff system, which will lead to more suitable individual decisions and, as a consequence, to scenarios which could reveal to be more effective both for the environment and for the society. Economic regulation could also address quantities and typologies of the emissions produced by transport, for example two new measures have been proposed in France: the carbon-tax and the Eco-tax for the heavy vehicles circulating out of the motorways.

Mr. Leuxe also exposed some French works in the field of economic valuation of biodiversity. Ecosystems may have a relevant value that needs to be assessed and preserved. They have a value themselves or as they provide human beings and society with important services. They could be services of supply (nutrition, fresh water, bioenergy, etc.), culture (aesthetics, spiritual, educational, etc.) and regulation (climate, hydrology, illnesses, etc.). Wouldn’t we pay up to 200 Euros for mantaining the pleasure of a walk in the forest or 90 Euros per year for preserving the high quality of fresh water, if we knew that we could lose these goods?

Mr. Leuxe concluded that, on the basis of the above mentioned analysis, making an estimate of the environmental and socio-economic impact of different transport infrastructures is possible, and this should inspire effective policies leading in the long run to more sustainable collective scenarios, which are of considerably important if we want to meet the goal of a 20% cut of emissions, as established by the European Council in 2007.

La tarification est donc en devenir mais les gains à en retirer en termes de lutte contre les externalités sont considérables. (Emile Quinet)

For further information his presentation is available online at the following link:

http://www.swomm.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/SWOMM-2010-A-Leuxe-Co%C3%BBts-transp-Alpes-Co%C3%BBts-externes-Perspectives1.pdf

Tags: Alpine states, Alps, environment, European Council, France, Italy, Ministry for the Environment (New Zealand), Sustainable transport

This entry was posted on 10/2/2011 at 12:56 and is filed under SWOMM 2010, The world of sustainable mobility: news & tidbits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.