The European Union over the next 30 years sees zero-emission cars, passenger planes and ships dominating transport as part of its fight to save the planet from climate change.
The European Commission, the EU's executive body, revealed its ambitious and green "Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy" that aims for a 90% cut in transport related greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in a mission statement published on its website earlier this week.
It said the strategy is making Europe's transport system "sustainable, smart and resilient." The strategy is crucial to the EU's desire that its smart, competitive, safe, accessible and affordable transport can deliver these goals.
The EC said its Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy along with 82 initiatives will guide its work for the next four years.
It said the strategy laid the foundation for how the EU transport system can achieve a green and digital transformation and become more resilient to future crises.
By 2030, the strategy hopes to see at least 30 million zero-emission cars. It envisions "market-ready" zero-emission vessels and automated mobility.
The strategy wants "zero-emission large aircraft" to be market-ready by 2035. More cycling infrastructure will be developed over the next decade.
The long-term EC vision is for "nearly all cars, vans, buses as well as new heavy-duty vehicles will be zero-emission" by the middle of this century.
"Through the implementation of this strategy, we will create a more efficient and resilient transport system, which is on a firm pathway to reduce emissions in line with our European Green Deal goals," Adina Valean, the commissioner for transport, said.
Frans Timmermans, executive vice president for the deal, said that for the EU to reach its climate targets, emissions from the transport sector must be on a downward trend. He said the strategy would shift how people and goods move across Europe. The strategy will also make it easy to combine different modes of transport in a single journey. "We've set ambitious targets for the entire transport system to ensure a sustainable, smart, and resilient return from the COVID-19 crisis," he said.
The deal is the EC's essential plan for the EU to be climate neutral by 2050.
The strategy also focuses on emerging innovation and technologies. It said the EU will "put in place favorable conditions for the development of new technologies and services, and all necessary legislative tools for their validation."
"We can expect the emergence and wider use of drones for commercial applications, autonomous vehicles, hyperloop, hydrogen aircraft, electric personal air vehicles, electric waterborne transport and clean urban logistics in the near future," it pointed out.
