Setting Subsidy Conditions to Support Sustainable Investments in Transport

Abstract

The transport sector is a significant polluter of the environment. One of the tools supporting the achievement of climate neutrality is subsidies (including support for sustainable transport). The conditions of subsidies in transport do not focus only on the economic value of the investment but also include the social and environmental aspects of the investment. Policymakers at various levels are asking themselves how to set up evaluation frameworks, criteria and what methods to use to assess the sustainability of investments. Efforts are underway within the EU to harmonise these criteria and methods, including for projects (co-)financed from EU funds. Reporting (use) of some criteria and methods is mandatory for the disbursement of EU funds; some remain at the level of recommendations. It is up to each EU country to decide with what degree of bindingness it will require the given criteria and methods. One of the indicators of the success of countries in the field of sustainability are the so-called ESG indices (ESG scores). The Risk Watch Initiative ESG Index [1] was used to assess the relationship between the level of mandatory subsidy requirements and the level of sustainability of individual countries. Efforts to assess the sustainability of transport at the national level can also be found [2].