Transportation and Storage

Sector Overview

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The Transportation and Storage sector is one of Europe’s most strategically important sectors because it enables trade, labour mobility, tourism, e-commerce, industrial supply chains and regional integration. From a sustainability perspective, however, it is also one of the most challenging sectors because it remains highly dependent on fossil fuels, has hard-to-abate sub-sectors such as aviation, shipping and heavy-duty road freight, and creates significant externalities through greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, noise, congestion, land use and occupational health and safety risks.

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In the EU, transportation and storage was reported by Eurostat as the fourth-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in 2024, with approximately 475 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent, and emissions from this sector had increased by around 14% since 2013. The European Environment Agency also identifies transport as the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, noting that transport emissions have shown limited reduction progress compared with other sectors and that 2024 estimates indicate a 0.7% increase compared with 2023. 

 

Main Sustainability Profile

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The sector’s sustainability profile is shaped by three structural characteristics. First, transport demand is closely linked to economic growth, urbanisation, international trade and consumer behaviour. Second, technological substitution is uneven: electrification is advancing rapidly for passenger cars, vans, buses and some light-duty logistics, while aviation, maritime transport and long-haul heavy freight still face major fuel, infrastructure and cost barriers. Third, sustainability performance depends not only on operators but also on infrastructure owners, vehicle manufacturers, fuel suppliers, public authorities, port and airport operators, logistics customers and consumers.

 

Freight transport remains heavily dependent on maritime and road transport. Eurostat reported that in 2024, maritime transport represented 67.0% of EU freight transport performance, while road transport represented 25.7%. Together, maritime and road accounted for 92.7% of EU freight transport performance, compared with 5.4% for rail, 1.7% for inland waterways and 0.2% for air. This modal structure is important because road freight is energy- and emissions-intensive, while rail and inland waterways generally offer lower-carbon alternatives where infrastructure and service quality are adequate.

 

Environmental Sustainability Issues

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The most material environmental issue for the sector is climate change mitigation. Road transport, aviation and shipping continue to rely heavily on petroleum-based fuels. Although electrification, sustainable aviation fuels, renewable and low-carbon maritime fuels, hydrogen, biofuels and efficiency technologies are advancing, the pace of transition remains insufficient for full alignment with EU climate-neutrality objectives.

 

Air pollution is another major issue. Road vehicles, ships, aircraft ground operations, diesel locomotives, port equipment and warehouse logistics fleets contribute to nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, sulphur oxides and volatile organic compounds. Electrification, shore-side electricity in ports, clean fuel standards, low-emission zones and stricter vehicle standards are therefore central sustainability levers.

 

Noise is also a significant social-environmental externality. The EEA reported that long-term exposure to transport noise affects health, estimating that more than 20 million people in Europe are highly annoyed and almost 7 million are highly sleep disturbed by long-term transport noise exposure. The EEA’s 2025 environmental noise assessment also estimated that transport noise causes the loss of 1.5 million healthy life years annually in Europe, with an annual economic cost of at least EUR 100 billion. 

 

Other environmental issues include land take for roads, railways, ports, airports and logistics centres; biodiversity fragmentation from transport corridors; waste from vehicles, tyres, batteries, packaging and maintenance operations; water pollution from ports and shipping; accidental spills; and resource consumption associated with infrastructure expansion.

 

Regulatory and Policy Context

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The EU sustainability framework for the sector is becoming increasingly strict. The European Commission’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy sets the long-term direction for a transport system that is cleaner, smarter and more resilient, with the EU aiming for a major reduction in transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 

 

For road transport, the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation introduces mandatory targets for charging and refuelling infrastructure across the EU. The regulation requires publicly accessible infrastructure for road vehicles, vessels and stationary aircraft, and is intended to support the transition to zero-emission mobility. The Council of the EU stated that from 2025 onwards, fast recharging stations of at least 150 kW for cars and vans should be installed every 60 kmalong the TEN-T core network, while heavy-duty vehicle charging infrastructure is also subject to distance-based deployment requirements. 

 

For aviation, the ReFuelEU Aviation framework requires aviation fuel suppliers to include a rising share of sustainable aviation fuel. The minimum SAF share starts at 2% in 2025 and rises progressively to 70% by 2050, while synthetic aviation fuel requirements begin in 2030 and increase over time. 

 

For maritime transport, FuelEU Maritime has applied from 1 January 2025 and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping by setting progressively stricter limits on the yearly greenhouse gas intensity of energy used by ships. EMSA states that the required reduction starts at 2% in 2025 and rises to as much as 80% by 2050. 

 

Social Sustainability Issues

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The sector is labour-intensive and includes workers exposed to irregular hours, shift work, fatigue, road safety risks, heavy lifting, repetitive movements, prolonged sitting, psychosocial pressure and accident risks. EU-OSHA has specifically examined occupational safety and health in transportation and storage through its ESENER work, highlighting the need for stronger workplace risk management in the sector. 

 

Social sustainability also includes passenger accessibility, affordability and service quality. Public transport, rail connectivity, inclusive mobility services and last-mile accessibility are essential for social inclusion, especially for elderly people, people with disabilities, low-income households and rural communities. In logistics, responsible subcontracting, fair driver treatment, working-time compliance, road safety culture and decent conditions for warehouse and courier workers are increasingly material ESG issues.

 

Governance and ESG Management

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Good governance in the Transportation and Storage sector requires strong systems for emissions accounting, fleet transition planning, route optimisation, safety management, subcontractor control, anti-corruption controls in procurement and infrastructure projects, cybersecurity in digital logistics platforms, and transparent reporting under EU sustainability disclosure requirements.

 

Companies in this sector should align sustainability management with recognised frameworks such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, European Sustainability Reporting Standards, the EU Taxonomy where applicable, ISO 14001 for environmental management, ISO 45001 for occupational health and safety, ISO 50001 for energy management, and science-based transition planning. Governance maturity should be assessed not only at corporate headquarters but also across depots, fleets, warehouses, ports, terminals, subcontractors and international logistics chains.

 

Key Sustainability Metrics

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A credible sustainability assessment of the sector should include carbon intensity, energy intensity, modal shift and social performance metrics. Core environmental indicators include total Scope 1, Scope 2 and material Scope 3 emissions; grams of CO₂e per passenger-kilometre; grams of CO₂e per tonne-kilometre; fleet fuel consumption; share of zero-emission vehicles; share of renewable electricity; SAF share in aviation fuel; low-carbon maritime fuel share; shore power use in ports; empty-running ratio; load factor; warehouse energy consumption per square metre; and waste recycling rate.

 

Social indicators should include lost-time injury frequency rate, fatality rate, road accident rate, driver working-time compliance, employee turnover, training hours, collective bargaining coverage, gender diversity in operational and management roles, accessibility of services, and customer safety incidents.

 

Governance indicators should include board oversight of climate and safety risks, existence of a transition plan, internal carbon pricing, supplier ESG screening, subcontractor audit coverage, whistleblowing mechanisms, cybersecurity incidents, anti-bribery controls and ESG-linked executive remuneration.

 

Risks and Opportunities

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The sector faces high transition risk because carbon pricing, fuel mandates, vehicle standards and infrastructure obligations are tightening. Aviation and maritime operators face particular cost exposure from sustainable fuel requirements and carbon-related regulation. Logistics companies face customer pressure to provide low-carbon supply-chain solutions, while road freight operators face capital expenditure pressure for fleet electrification and charging infrastructure.

 

Physical climate risks are also material. Floods, heatwaves, storms, drought-related inland waterway disruption, rail buckling, port damage and airport disruption can affect service continuity. Adaptation planning is therefore a core sustainability requirement for infrastructure operators and logistics networks.

 

At the same time, sustainability creates major opportunities. These include electrified urban logistics, rail freight expansion, intermodal logistics, digital route optimisation, green warehousing, low-carbon fuels, battery-electric buses and trucks, port electrification, sustainable aviation fuel supply chains, circular vehicle and battery management, and climate-resilient infrastructure investment.

 

Sector Outlook

 

The Transportation and Storage sector is entering a decisive transition period. The sustainability challenge is no longer limited to voluntary emissions reduction; it is becoming a regulatory, financial and competitiveness issue. Companies that invest early in fleet decarbonisation, energy efficiency, digital logistics, occupational safety, climate resilience and transparent ESG reporting will be better positioned. Companies that delay transition may face higher fuel costs, carbon costs, regulatory penalties, financing constraints, customer loss and reputational pressure.

Overall, the sector’s sustainability performance remains mixed. Policy ambition is strong, but actual emissions reductions are still insufficient. The most important priorities are accelerating electrification where technically feasible, shifting freight and passengers to lower-carbon modes, scaling sustainable fuels for hard-to-abate transport, improving infrastructure resilience, reducing noise and air pollution, and strengthening labour standards across logistics chains.