An evaluation of the policy implementation regarding the transport sector on climate change : the case of Malta and Luxembourg

Abstract

Climate change is interpreted as “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods”. This means that any activity that is done through human actions around the world that could impact the climate to change. This impact includes the release of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. These changes could lead to catastrophic circumstances for countries that are vulnerable to such changes. The transport sector in many countries results in high emissions emitted into the atmosphere; it is one of the largest contributors to climate change. As the world continues to warm up actions towards reversing this process may be too late. However, presently, countries worldwide are fighting to reduce these emissions, not only to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but to also preserve the environment that humans inhabit for future generations. This study incorporates a case study approach of Malta and Luxembourg in order to evaluate these countries by analysing various technical documents. The method that was used for this evaluation of the technical documents is the descriptive policy analysis, which required a desktop study by evaluating secondary qualitative documents. The issue that these two countries face is that due to their small size, their position on the world map and the high dependence on private vehicles, these two countries have high levels of pollution within the land transport sector. Furthermore, the aim of the dissertation is to gather, compare and contrast the two case studies (Malta and Luxembourg) and evaluate whether the policies that have been implemented or will be implemented are effective. As a result, documents relevant to the aim of the dissertation were used in order to answer the research questions that have been derived for the purpose of this study. The research questions involve: 1) What is the impact of Climate Change from a land transport perspective in Malta and Luxembourg? 2) What are the land transport policies that are being implemented and to what extent is their effectiveness? Lastly, even though both countries are working extremely hard to reduce the GHG emissions, there needs to be more actions for this to happen. In Malta, there may have been reductions in GHG emissions from other sectors, however, the transport sector is still lacking and a change within its perspective on how to tackle this sector is important. As a result, both countries as members of the European Union have to publish a strategy document that views the situation with at least a thirty-year perspective in order to reach the goals of 2030 and 2050 for carbon neutrality.