On October 21, 2025, the PRISMA project hosted a webinar titled “Transport Transformation: Combining Lifestyle Changes with Electrification Yields Major Climate and Health Benefits”. The event explored how the transport sector can be transformed to deliver not only deep decarbonization but also major health and societal benefits. Drawing on results from a recently published study using the REMIND-EdgeTransport model, the discussion highlighted that achieving sustainable mobility requires more than electrifying vehicles; it demands rethinking how we move.
Key Takeaways
- What can be electrified can be decarbonized: Electrification is the most powerful lever for reducing CO₂ emissions, especially in road transport.
- Non-climate externalities are costly: Accidents and congestion from cars and trucks dominate the external costs of transport, highlighting the need for systemic changes beyond technology.
- Active mobility brings major health benefits: In increasingly sedentary societies, walking and cycling deliver substantial health and economic benefits by reducing mortality, accidents, and air pollution.
Summary
Jarusch Muessel, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), presented results comparing three major transport transformation strategies: electrification, lifestyle changes, and efficiency improvements. Electrification delivers the largest long-term CO₂ reductions, while lifestyle changes bring immediate co-benefits. For the EU, lifestyle-oriented scenarios could yield net benefits of around €70 billion per year by 2050, thanks to fewer accidents, cleaner air, and better health through more active mobility.
Jarusch called for integrated policy packages combining electrification incentives with measures promoting public transport, shared mobility, and active travel to maximize synergies between climate, health, and livability.
Q&A and Panel Discussion
Questions focused on implementation challenges and the political feasibility of behavior-based measures. The discussion underscored the need for coordinated policies across sectors and levels of governance to make sustainable mobility the default choice.
Watch the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmBrAWVqNW0
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101081604 – PRISMA. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.