Characterizing the Impacts of Uncertainty in the Policy Process: Climate Science, Policy Construction, and Local Governance Decisions

This chapter intends to lay the groundwork for further investigation and consideration of the stratification of transport-related CO₂ emissions and a more targeted approach to policy-making in this area. It chapter draws on data from the UK and the Dutch National Travel Surveys (NTS) which provide detailed information about individuals, households and their trips for the last three decades. The chapter examines the extent to which the socio-economic characteristics of the main contributors of CO₂ emissions are similar in the Netherlands and UK. The analysis results reveal that the proportion of individuals with zero-emissions from transport in the Netherlands has consistently stayed around the 30 per cent mark and actually increased slightly between 1990 and 2005. The chapter has helped to understand the current distribution of transport-related CO₂ emissions in parts of Europe, and has stimulated the need for more debate about targeted policies to address individual emissions.