In terms of its CO2 emissions, the transport and mobility sector is one of the top (and in some countries, the top) polluting sector globally. It accounts for almost 25% of all CO2 emissions globally and higher than that in certain areas such as around 28% for the EU, 27% for China, 28% for the US etc. This chapter looks exclusively at the relation of the transport sector with climate change and examines the issues involved and the key elements of interaction of the sector vis-à-vis the unfolding climate change crisis. Primarily, it aims to consider the transport sector as an emitter of Green House Gasses—GHG, and to assess the main policies for its decarbonisation. It also considers the incoming innovations in the sector and their potential climate friendliness. The emphasis is on road transportation because this is the most polluting mode by far. The other transport modes are also considered but, in less detail, and only when necessary. The highlight of this chapter is that it presents a concise synthesis of the various proposals and suggestions for decarbonisation measures and policies in various studies by national or international agencies and highlights the types of transport decarbonisation measures and policies that are most promising and likely to be widely accepted. These analytical presentations follow the triptych: “avoiding”, “shifting” and “improving/deploying” measures i.e., policies that aim to make the users of the transport system avoid making trips, shift to less emitting modes, and improve/deploy new mobility technologies that will enable low or no greenhouse gas emissions. Besides this analytical presentation of the necessary actions for transport decarbonisation, this chapter examines also the so called five pillars of future climate-friendly mobility, i.e. Electro-mobility (electric vehicle propulsion and battery storage systems), Automated mobility (driverless, intelligent vehicles communicating data and information with the infrastructure and other vehicles), Big data and mass information collecting and processing technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its many applications for mobility and transportation, and New cultural and socioeconomic mentalities that are developing in connection to the changing travel and mobility characteristics. The reader is then led through a first assessment of the “odds for success” i.e., an assessment of the measures and policies that are considered as enough to effect zero carbon emissions and their chances of been implemented in time to avoid global warming above the 2 °C by 2050 or’60. This is done by examining progress in implementing the various decarbonisation measures in the four categories: Managing the “demand” for travel; Improving the energy efficiency of conventional vehicles; Shifting passenger travel and freight to less carbon intensive modes; and, Transitioning to “clean” no-carbon emitting energy vectors. The chapter ends by stressing that all the different policies and measures for decarbonisation in the transport sector, must be implemented in a concerted and coordinated way as there is no “silver bullet” for the successful decarbonisation of the sector. In the uncertainty that reigns globally, the individual decarbonisation measures and initiatives that have been taken so far by governments around the world, are not considered to be enough.
