A DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE GOVERNANCE APPROACH TO IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE IN THE FREIGHT TRANSPORT SECTOR

This thesis highlights that the transport sector is a major source of CO2 emissions by pointing out its effects which could range from negative to disastrous (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, 2014). According to recent data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), transportation continues to depend on oil products for 91% of its final energy, a decrease of only 3.5 percentage points since the early 1970s. Over time, CO2 emissions from the transport sector have continued to be generated mainly by road transport. The freight transport sector can be defined as a complex system and a wicked problem. The freight transport sector is a complex system because of the continuous changes in the impacts on the environment mainly caused by CO2 emissions and the complexity on the government of this sector because of the many entanglements between several actors at the organizational level and inter-organizational level. The freight transport sector is also defined as a wicked problem. Wicked problems are contrary to their tame counterparts, which are simple to define and formulate and have a high potential for standard or routine solutions (Head & Alford, 2015). Here it is important to note that the word "wicked" does not necessarily indicate "evil" but rather refers to issues that are challenging to define and manage (Australian Public Service Commission, 2007; Head & Alford, 2015). Because the freight transport sector can be classified as a complex system and a wicked problem, it presents several challenges to reduce its impact on the environment. In order to reduce the environmental consequences, nowadays, public agencies and national governments are trying to promote sustainable development. Here, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are among the most important tools to reach sustainable development. The Voluntary Environmental Programs (VEPs) represent a policy lever to reduce the CO2 emissions in the freight transport sector and are, therefore, crucial to reach the SDGs. Despite their many benefits, VEPs have limitations. The complexity of the transport and logistics sectors, as well as the involvement of various private and public actors, increases the risk of dysfunctions. These dysfunctions hinder the attainment of the desired VEPs outcomes and generate short-term interests of the organizations involved (Bivona & Bilek 2021). This thesis will highlight the lack of the adoption of the collaborative governance approach in VEPs which can lead to failure in achieving the predetermined results as the main limitation. A collaborative governance approach, which can help to overcome the limits of VEPs and support more effective implementation in the freight transport sector, could therefore foster the reduction of CO2 emissions. Moreover, the Dynamic Performance Governance (DPG) approach as a systemic methodological approach will be suggested. Hereby, the underlying idea is to support decision-makers at the policy and management levels in formulating and implementing more effective policies/strategies in reducing the environmental impact of the transportation sector, as well as being able to improve the coordination of each actor being involved and to support collaborative governance. Moreover, the DPG method using System Dynamics (SD) models - which have successfully supported a descriptive perspective in policy evaluation and performance management - facilitates communication and sharing of comprehension of the reasons and effects behind the observed governance structure between network members (Bianchi et al., 2019). In the empirical part, the thesis focuses on a case study in France which gives an overview of a voluntary program in France: the EVE program "Engagements Volontaires pour l'Environnement" (Voluntary Commitment to the Environment) which aims at increasing transportation operator efficiency and decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In a next step, the main motivations and barriers to promote VEP in the transport industry that emerged from field research conducted with a sample of logistics service providers engaged in the EVE program in France will be identified. The result is then used to build a DPG chart and a Causal Loop Diagram (CLD), including the feedback mechanisms that impact the performance of VEP in France. Finally, an SD model is used to investigate alternative policies to increase the performance of the EVE program in France (Bivona et al., 2023). The advantages of the DPG and SD approaches, the limits and further research on this relevant topic are mentioned in the conclusions.