Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

302 Chapter 11: Environment and Transport 6. Conclusions The transport sector is a major consumer of energy and material resources, and it is a source of environmental pollution, particularly GHGs, air pollutants and noise. A sustainable transport network is a vital attribute of any country, as it reduces pressure on the environment and results in cleaner, quieter towns and city centres. The OECD has noted that aiming to decarbonise the transport system in Ireland via improvements in private vehicles is unlikely to lead to substantially different patterns of behaviour or achieve the rapid emission reductions needed for climate change mitigation. To achieve Ireland’s climate goals in the transport sector requires systemic change. Such change requires deep integration of spatial, transport and transition planning to implement measures that deliver compact development and to expand the active and public transport infrastructure to achieve the modal shift needed to overcome the dominance of the private car. An internationally accepted policy approach for changing transport systems is the hierarchy of the avoid–shift–improve framework. This includes implementing measures to reduce the frequency and distance of trips (avoid); moving towards more environmentally friendly modes of transport, such as walking, cycling or using public transport (shift); and promoting efficient fuel and vehicle technologies, including EVs (improve). For Ireland, while elements of the framework are in place, there is a need to accelerate this approach if we are to decarbonise the transport sector and meet our challenging environment and climate targets.