UN Decade of Sustainable Transport will start in 2026!
In 2023, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared the first-ever United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport to start in 2026 (Resolution A/78/148), underscoring transport’s critical role as an enabler for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), in collaboration with UN Regional Commissions, is tasked with the preparation of a UN Implementation Plan for the UN Decade, in consultation with “Member States, specialised agencies, funds, programmes and bodies of the United Nations, as well as other intergovernmental organisations, non-governmental organisations and relevant stakeholders”.
The UN General Assembly Resolution also recognises “the need for continued cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and existing partnerships on sustainable transport issues such as (…) SLOCAT”, among others. Building upon the paper “Inputs to the UN Process” published last year in collaboration with the UK-funded High Volume Transport Applied Research Programme, this new SLOCAT paper outlines what the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport can achieve, as well as priority areas and critical levers of change for the next 10 years.
This paper is intended as a contribution to support the ongoing works on the UN Implementation Plan for the UN Decade, and is informed by the discussions held at the workshop co-organised in April 2025 by SLOCAT, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (UK FCDO) and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), in collaboration with FIA Foundation, Kühne Climate Center (KCC) and World Resources Institute (WRI). The workshop brought together a mix of participants from diverse professional backgrounds, geographies and transport development contexts, and continued contributing collective thought leadership and stakeholder engagement in the preparations towards the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport.
Reinforcing Sustainable Transport’s Central Role in Thriving Communities and Economies
Transport is the lifeline of our societies and economies. Expanding passenger and freight transport services that are efficient, accessible, affordable, safe, sustainable and resilient is among the most impactful steps to enable inclusive communities and shared prosperity for a liveable planet. To get there, changes in the policy, resources, practice, mental models, and relationships for transport are needed.
The first-ever United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport should serve as a global call to action, encouraging and supporting governments, businesses, users, financiers, civil society, and academia worldwide to accelerate both individual and collaborative efforts in advancing sustainable transport. This UN Decade must foster inclusive, coordinated and transformative progress to strengthen transport systems and services that are socially inclusive, economically viable, environmentally responsible, and resilient.
Towards the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport Multi-Stakeholder Workshop
This workshop brought together a mix of participants from transport professional associations, NGOs, think tanks, academia, government, development cooperation entities, and multilateral organisations representing diverse geographies and transport development contexts. The workshop is co-organised by SLOCAT, the
UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), in collaboration with FIA Foundation, Kühne Climate Center (KCC) and World Resources Institute (WRI).The workshop aims to contribute inputs to the preparations towards the first ever
United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport, set to start in 2026. This workshop is part of a series of stakeholder spaces convened by SLOCAT since early 2024. SLOCAT aims to serve as one of the initiatives that assists the United Nations in developing and implementing the United Nations Decade of Sustainable
Transport