Policy and Planning for Sustainable Development

This study explores the policy and planning for sustainable development, focusing on the transportation sector and its impact on greenhouse gas emissions. It discusses the ecological footprint, the current policy in Australia, and proposed changes to reduce emissions. The study highlights the need for investment in renewable energy and alternative transportation options.

Running head: POLICY AND PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
POLICY AND PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Name of the Student:
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Author Note:

1IntroductionIntroduction
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Transportation sector.......................................................................................................................2
Description of policy.......................................................................................................................4
Relation with the chosen area......................................................................................................5
Changes to the policy.......................................................................................................................6
Analysis of the policy......................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

2IntroductionIntroduction
Introduction
Ecological footprint is a metric that potentially measures the amount of nature that the
humans have and how much nature we have used. The measurement of the ecological footprint
helps the countries to improve their wellbeing and sustainability, individuals have the knowledge
how they impact their planet, and local leaders can better optimize the investments in the public
projects. Ecological footprint also measures the supply and he demand of nature. If the demand
side is considered, then the ecological footprint measures the ecological assets that are required
for the production of the natural resources that it consumes and at the same time absorb the waste
like the carbon emission. Whereas, the supply side includes the bio capacity of the nation, state
to represent the ecological assets and its productivity. The ecological footprint tracks the usage
of the six different categories of the productive surface areas like the carbon demand on land,
forest area, built up land, fishing grounds, grazing land and cropland (Galli et al. 2014). This
study will include the calculation of the eco-footprint, selection of an area which will be
addressed; description of the national policy and it relates with the area, and discussion on the
changes in policies.
Transportation sector
Transportation alone is the largest emitter of the carbon dioxide in developed and
underdeveloped countries. In developed countries like Australia, the modern transportation relies
heavily on fuel like petroleum, light duty trucks and the passenger cars. All these type of vehicles
contribute to the carbon dioxide emissions. Burning a single gallon of gasoline can create 20
pounds of carbon dioxide and it means that the average vehicle will emit 6 to 9 tons of carbon
dioxide each year. It is important to mention that the electricity sector of Australia has received a
lot of attention, however the transport sector is a growing source of emission and it did not

3IntroductionIntroduction
escape the spotlight (climatecouncil.org.au 2019). The transport sector in Australia is the single
largest emitter of the greenhouse gas. Transport includes the shipping, domestic flights, public
transport, trucks and cars. The transport sector of Australia is the second largest emitter of the
greenhouse gas. The transport sector alone emits about 102 million tons of carbon dioxide and it
represents about the 18 percent of the greenhouse pollution in Australia. Since the year 1990, the
transport sector alone has contributed as the highest emitter of carbon dioxide and it will
continue to grow till the year 2030. The half of the pollution emanates from the transport sector
in Australia and the major source are the cars itself. The cars in Australia produces carbon
dioxide which is similar to the gas and coal fires gas supply in Queensland (Xia et al. 2015).
First calculation
Figure 1: first calculation [source: footprintnetwork.org 2019]

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Recalculation
Figure 2: recalculation [source: footprintnetwork.org 2019]
Description of policy
The emission control policy of Australia is a strategy to the rising greenhouse gas
emission that has steadily took place between the year 1991 and 2008. The emission of
greenhouse gas in Australia is has touched about 580 megatons. Thus, the emission control
policy is agreed by both the major political parties in Australia and they have agreed to reduce
the emission in Australia by atleast 5 percent and this emission levels will be compared with that
of the year 2000 and within the year 2020. The Australian government plans to reduce the
greenhouse gas emissions to the standards of 1990 by 40 percent and the levels will be reduced

5IntroductionIntroduction
within the timeline of 2020. The Australian government plans to reduce the levels of emission by
placing an emission tax and later on the emission trading scheme will also be established
(Aph.gov.au 2019). The current policy stresses that the electricity will be generated by the
renewable means; the rising levels of carbon dioxide will be balanced by the increasing the
carbon dioxide absorbing strategies. This feature will be enhanced by the development if the
international tradable emission for the purpose of balancing the carbon emission; fuel standards
will be imposed to reduce the amount emission in the transport sector and it will be applied for
the ones that will emit significant amount of carbon dioxide; continued research and finding so
as to develop the research activities for the purpose of prevention of the greenhouse gases;
continued participation in to the negotiation related to the climate change. This relates to the
chosen area of the study (transport) by the fact that the public and the road transport system are
under a lot of strain and it is due to the increase in the number of population. The heavy reliance
on the cars and the layout of the cities along with the lack of the proper public transport
alternatives. The transport sector in Australia has failed to a great extent that it is unable to tackle
the climate change. The transport sector is alone the biggest emitter of the greenhouse gas and
the it has increased by 63 percent (Aph.gov.au 2019).
Relation with the chosen area
The emission control policy fits perfectly with the chosen are of study (transport). The
emission control policy effectively caught hold of the rise in carbon dioxide in the Australia. It is
important to mention that the policy is well balanced with the individual contribution to the
carbon dioxide. There large number of the vehicles and it types used for the public commutation
has greatly increased the levels of the carbon dioxide levels within the cities and the adjoining
areas of Australia. There emission taxation policy is best suited for the purpose of restricting the

6IntroductionIntroduction
increased usage of the private transport system and instead the citizens must use the public
transport system for the purpose of reducing the levels of carbon dioxide emission (Dean and
Green 2018).
Australia lags behind the other countries in terms of the transport emission. The transport
efficiency is well below the other developed nations and the poor performance is due to the
following: low ratio of the fund spends on the public transport in comparison to the roads; low
share of the trips taken up by the public transport system; high distance travelled by per person
by car; high usage of the cars; there is a lack of the greenhouse gas emission standards; and the
high polluting cars that pile up the roads (McBain et al. 2018.).
Changes to the policy
The various changes that needs to be incorporated into the emission control policy are as
follows:
 There must a central agency that will control the regulation of the greenhouse gas
emission from the major emitters.
 It is important to include the emission trading scheme and the will target the
economic sectors. There will be a emission reduction target that are set between
10 to 20 percent of the 1990 level. considering that there is a global emission
control agreement (Richardson 2013).
 Emission can also be reduced by sourcing the energy requirements from the
renewable energy sources. To reduce reliance on the fossil fuel, the renewable
energy will be used to decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emitted into the
atmosphere.

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 Providing viable alternatives to the driving like the walking alternatives, cycling,
public transport. Electrification of the light rai, trains, buses and cars with 100
percent renewable energy (climatechangeauthority.gov.au 2019).
Analysis of the policy
Transport sector are entirely dependent on the government policies and how well they
invest capital into the transport infrastructure. The important part is that majority of carbon
dioxide emission is from the transport sector and the willingness of the people to avail the private
transport system instead of availing the public transport system. There are potential alternatives
like the electric vehicles that can effectively use the energy stored in the batteries to power up the
vehicle. However, the generation of the electricity will also take up a lot of rescues and on the
other hand will also damage the environment. The sustainable development will only come at the
cost of investing into the renewable energy. Thus, it is important to note that the Australian
government needs to invest into the renewable energy so as to gain 100 percent reliance on the
renewable sources of energy and reduces the ecological footprint (Mesarić and Krajcar 2015).
Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that, ecological footprint tracks the usage
of the six different categories of the productive surface areas like the carbon demand on land,
forest area, built up land, fishing grounds, grazing land and cropland. The transport sector of
Australia is the second largest emitter of the greenhouse gas. The half of the pollution emanates
from the transport sector in Australia and the major source are the cars itself. The Australian
government plans to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions to the standards of 1990 by 40 percent
and the levels will be reduced within the timeline of 2020. the public and the road transport
system are under a lot of strain and it is due to the increase in the number of population. The

8IntroductionIntroduction
heavy reliance on the cars and the layout of the cities along with the lack of the proper public
transport alternatives.

9IntroductionIntroduction
Reference
Aph.gov.au, 2019. Emissions control policies – Parliament of Australia. [online] Aph.gov.au.
Available at: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/
Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook43p/emissioncontrol [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].
climatechangeauthority.gov.au, 2019. Climate Change Authority | Climate Change Authority.
[online] Climate Change Authority. Available at:
http://www.climatechangeauthority.gov.au/reviews/light-vehicle-emissions-standards-australia/
policies-reducing-light-vehicle-emissions [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].
climatecouncil.org.au, 2019. What's the deal with transport emissions? - Climate Council.
[online] Climate Council. Available at: https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/transport-
emissions-and-climate-solutions/ [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].
Dean, A. and Green, D., 2018. Climate change, air pollution and human health in Sydney,
Australia: A review of the literature. Environmental Research Letters, 13(5), p.053003.
footprintnetwork.org, 2019. Measure what you treasure. [online] Footprintnetwork.org.
Available at: https://www.footprintnetwork.org/ [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].
Galli, A., Wackernagel, M., Iha, K. and Lazarus, E., 2014. Ecological footprint: Implications for
biodiversity. Biological Conservation, 173, pp.121-132.
Liu, L., Kong, F., Liu, X., Peng, Y. and Wang, Q., 2015. A review on electric vehicles
interacting with renewable energy in smart grid. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 51,
pp.648-661.

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McBain, B., Lenzen, M., Albrecht, G. and Wackernagel, M., 2018. Reducing the ecological
footprint of urban cars. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 12(2), pp.117-127.
Mesarić, P. and Krajcar, S., 2015. Home demand side management integrated with electric
vehicles and renewable energy sources. Energy and Buildings, 108, pp.1-9.
Richardson, D.B., 2013. Electric vehicles and the electric grid: A review of modeling
approaches, Impacts, and renewable energy integration. Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews, 19, pp.247-254.
Xia, T., Nitschke, M., Zhang, Y., Shah, P., Crabb, S. and Hansen, A., 2015. Traffic-related air
pollution and health co-benefits of alternative transport in Adelaide, South Australia.
Environment international, 74, pp.281-290.