In order to reach the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement and provide equitable access to transport and mobility for all, the urgent transformation of transport is necessary. At the Glasgow Climate Conference – COP26, Parties and non-Party stakeholders came together around pledges on a number of fronts, from scaled up action on emissions from aviation and shipping, to the electrification of a range of vehicles, including cars, vans and medium- to heavy-duty vehicles. While these efforts are essential to bringing the world in line with the 1.5°C target, much more needs to be done to not only bring emissions from transport systems down to zero and scale up their resilience, but also to guarantee equitable access to transport and mobility systems that truly leave no one and no place behind. Walking, cycling and public transport hold the key to many of the solutions needed to achieve these goals through a just transition. Still they are under-prioritised aspects of the climate agenda, from a policy and funding perspective.
At COP27 Sharm el Sheikh, governments at all levels, multilateral organisations, international financial institutions and national development banks must act to meaningfully scale up walking, cycling and public transport systems, particularly in the Global South.
The SLOCAT Partnership calls on these stakeholders to enable walking, cycling and public transport solutions as core elements of their climate action for transport by specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based action in six areas:
- Prioritising the promotion, support and scale up of walking, cycling and public transport, as well as the decoupling of economic growth and private car use, with tailored educational, policy and funding measures. These measures should make walking, cycling and public transport reliable, convenient, cost-effective and accessible to all. In addition, there must be explicit consideration for walking, cycling and public transport demand and supply impacts in all transport projects and new developments.
- Investing in infrastructure that enables walking, cycling and public transport, by, among other actions, reallocating existing funding from fossil fuel subsidies.
- Implementing integrated land and transport design and planning, with robust safeguards for healthy, gender sensitive, pro-poor and disabilities-conscious impacts so these modes effectively become the most convenient options for most trips.
- Involving multidisciplinary health experts in the development and implementation of walking, cycling and public transport policy.
- Enhancing coordination among different tiers of government, as well as the technical and financial capacities of sub-national and local governments to help cities and communities realise this shift in design, planning, funding and implementation.
- Applying an integrated and balanced mix of Avoid–Shift–Improve transport strategies to reduce emissions and increase equitable access to resilient transport systems.
