Monitoring the transport sector within the sustainable energy action plan: First results and lessons learnt

摘要

The Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), promoted by the Covenant of Mayor (CoM), is a key tool for policies aimed at reducing fossil fuel consumption and GHG emissions, in accordance with the Kyoto protocol and its updates. It is implemented at the municipal level and is constituted by a Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI) and a set of measures to be implemented (Action Plan, AP). In particular, the paper will investigate the "weight" of the transport sector in terms of emissions within the BEI and the relevance and the variety of its actions inserted in the AP. To achieve an actual implementation of the SEAP and to obtain its expected targets, monitoring is a crucial component. SEAP monitoring has to look at both the progress of each single action and its global environmental effect, which requires more than one level of evaluation and control. Economical crisis and conjunctural effects mainly influenced the transport Co2 decrease, making AP less important, or quite indifferent in terms of reducing. Is the plan still effective? Or a change of approach can be provided? According to these statements, the author proposes an analysis of the case of Genoa SEAP (2010) and its monitoring process, recently concluded (2015), particularly focusing on transport sector and its goals. The activity implemented in the city of Genoa is representative of that challenge and is a helpful test case for other cities addressing the same issues.