Accelerating the climate transition in port-related road freight

Despite ambitious climate targets, there are currently no clear mechanisms in place to create demand for electrified heavy transport. Ports could play a greater role in this regard. This project investigates whether freight environmental agreements, voluntary but binding agreements between public and private actors, could be a way forward.

The transport sector is facing rapid change, but for heavy road transport there is still a lack of effective policy instruments to create demand for electric vehicles. At the same time, ports are strategic hubs where local incentives, such as access rules, fees or priority for zero-emission vehicles, can influence large parts of freight traffic. They are hubs where thousands of trucks pass through every day. International experience shows that this can have a significant effect. In California, for example, the Clean Truck Fund and Clean Air Action Plan at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have shown how economic instruments can accelerate electrification, where environmentally differentiated charges have already contributed to over USD 100 million being invested in electric trucks and charging infrastructure.

However, in Sweden it is unclear what opportunities ports have to introduce similar controls. Are they allowed to introduce environmental requirements? What rules apply? And how would different control measures affect transporters, costs and emissions? The Hamnarätt project is therefore exploring how and whether voluntary, but binding, freight environmental agreements could become a new tool for accelerating the electrification of heavy road transport to and from Swedish ports. The idea is simple: if several actors make joint efforts, this can create a force that drives the system in the right direction.

Hamnarätt tackles these issues by combining, among other things, law and practical case studies in the ports of Trelleborg and Mälarhamnar. These are two ports that differ from each other, from international high traffic to regional, more small-scale flows, but both want to contribute to climate change. The project aims to analyse how agreements can be designed, what effects they have, and how they can be implemented in a legally secure and scalable manner in the Swedish context. The results will provide an important knowledge base for decision-makers and industry players who want to understand the role ports can play in the transition of heavy transport.