PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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environment issues in Europe is the TERM program of the European Environment
Agency which is now published annually (EEA 2001). 8
Scientists often differentiate between a weak or minimal definition of
sustainability that guarantees the avoidance of environmental catastrophe and a strong or
maximal version that aims at preserving natural capital that cannot be replaced, thus
leaving future generations the opportunity “to experience a level of environmental
consumption at least equal to that of the present generation” (Jacobs, 1991, quoted in
Kozeltsev 1998:134). Of course, since it was firmly inserted into the environmental
debates in the 1980s, sustainability had already become much overused and turned into “a
big, sloppy term for a big, complex subject” (Prugh, Costanza et al. 2000:2).
At one end of the spectrum, economists have attempted to make the concept fit
into their models and formulas, resulting in definitions that might even sounds humorous
8 TERM stands for Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism. The TERM process is steered jointly
by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, the Directorate-General for
Environment, Eurostat and the European Environment Agency (EEA). Interestingly, the report is in fact
much more than a mere reporting mechanism. Instead, it reflects general attitudes of the EEA with regard
to transport. Consider the following excerpt from its September 11, 2001 press release:
Most of the report’s key indicators signal unfavourable trends or show that there is still a long way to go
to reach policy targets for “greening” transport. The report warns that current trends point away from
achieving the EU’s recently-announced objectives of breaking the link between economic growth and
growth in transport, and of returning the market shares taken by rail, maritime and inland waterway
transport to 1998 levels by 2010. As a shift towards greater use of cars and planes continues, passenger
and freight transport is growing at a faster rate than the economy as a whole, bringing increasing threats
to the environment and human health, it says. For example, growth in energy use and greenhouse gas
emissions from transport is jeopardising the EU’s ability to meet its targets under the Kyoto Protocol on
combating climate change. But there are also some positive trends, mainly due to advances in
technology and fuels that have made new road vehicles less polluting. A significant improvement in
urban air quality has resulted, although in many cities air quality still poses health risks and further
improvement is needed. The energy efficiency of car transport has improved slightly over the past two
decades, although low occupancy rates and the use of heavier and more powerful vehicles have partly
offset fuel efficiency gains in new cars. There has been no increase, however, in the energy efficiency
of freight transport by road and little corresponding change in rail or shipping. Air transport remains the
least energy efficient mode of transport despite technological advances. The report argues that better
integration of environmental considerations into all areas of transport policy-making is required to
achieve progress towards a more environmentally sustainable transport system.