Connections Transport & ICT Green Mobility Why Green Transport Interventions Matter for Sustainable Mobility Holger Dalkmann, Alyssa Fischer and Karl Peet (Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport – SLoCat)†. 40% As one of the four global goals framing sustainable mobility in the Global Mobility Report (GMR), green mobility aims to reduce both air and noise pollution from transport, and to address climate change in the transport sector through mitigation and adaptation. Transport currently contributes to 23 percent of global Th proportion of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and countri s worldwid 18 percent of all man-made emissions in the global wh r tr nsport economy. In one projection, energy related carbon w s th l r st dioxide (CO2) emissions are expected to grow by 40 n r consumin percent between 2013 and 2040.1 Air pollution—both s ctor in 2012 ambient (outdoor) and household (indoor)—is the biggest single environmental risk to health; ambient air pollution alone kills about three million people each year. In addition, evidence from several countries suggests that traffic noise has the second biggest environmental impact on health. Green mobility in the global agenda titative target for green mobility, the Paris Agreement implicitly calls for the transport sector to decarbonize The importance of green mobility is underscored in by mid-century, in order to hold the increase in the av- the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the erage global temperature to "well below 2°Celsius."2 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the New Urban Agenda. In seven SDG targets and many Na- Methodological challenges in tionally Determined Contributions (NDCs) identified measuring green mobility in the Paris Agreement, we see targets and indicators that are dependent on improvements to transport Green mobility is a broad concept that aims to sim- systems. Some of these are related directly to climate plify a diverse set of environmental impacts caused by change mitigation and resilience. Others focus on the transport sector. In developing the green mobility energy efficiency or illnesses and deaths that can be objective, the GMR identified macro-level, aspirational, closely tied to air pollution caused by inefficient and “green” targets to be achieved by 2030 and 2050 unsustainable transport. While the 2030 Sustainable at the global scale. These targets are related to four Development Agenda does not specify a single quan- dimensions: † We would like to acknowledge all of the authors of the Green Mobility Chapter of the GMR, Cornie Huizenga (SLoCaT), Patrick Oliva (PPMC), and Dario Hidalgo (WRI), as well as other members of the following organizations for their contribution in drafting the Green Mobility Chapter of the GMR: SLoCaT, WRI, PPMC, IsDB, UNCTAD, Michelin, GIZ, IEA, World Bank, UIC, ITDP, UNECE, WHO, KFW, Clean Air Institute, Concito, ICAO, UNEP, ICCT, UNIDO, ITF, Hewlett Foundation, UNGA, Walk21, IenM-Netherlands, FIA. 1 IEA (International Energy Agency) 2015. World Energy Outlook 2015, table 2.1. Paris: OECD. 2 UNFCCC 2015. Paris Agreement. DECEMBER 2017 NOTE 2017 - 9 • Climate change mitigation targets aim to sub- 63 percent propose transport-sector-specific mitiga- stantially reduce GHG emissions from the trans- tion measures.3 port sector as consistent with limiting the global average temperature increase; However, climate action in the transport sector still has a long way to go. On an economy-wide scale, • Climate change adaptation targets aim to en- mitigation measures proposed in NDCs are expected hance the climate resilience of transport infra- to fall well short of a 2-degree Celsius scenario, let structure and services, in line with targets set by alone the more ambitious and aspirational 1.5-degree the Paris Agreement. The GMR proposes a Trans- scenario.4 Increased focus on safe access to active port Climate Vulnerability Index to systematically transport modes, including walking and cycling, sup- quantify these impacts to make more informed ported by public transport and the de-carbonization economic and policy decisions. of fuels and vehicles, will help bridge that gap. • Air Pollution and Physical Activity targets aim In low-and middle-income countries, 98 percent of to reduce premature death and illnesses from cities do not meet WHO air quality guidelines, com- air pollution and physical inactivity from trans- pared with 56 percent of cities in high-income coun- port related sources and choices, in line with the tries. As a result, only 10 percent of people globally SDGs. live in cities that comply with WHO air quality guide- • Noise Pollution targets aim to reduce the global lines.5 mortality rate and burden of disease from trans- port related noise levels. Scale of the challenge The targets set for the Green Mobility objective, es- Trends in green mobility pecially on climate change mitigation, call for nothing Global transport emissions grew at an average an- short of transformative change for mobility. Achiev- nual rate of 2 percent from 1990–2012, and transport ing these targets requires that the transport sector remains among the fastest growing sectors of CO2 achieve net de-carbonization of transport to contrib- emissions from fuel combustion. Road-based trans- ute to a net-zero-emission economy. Such a transfor- port—passenger and freight transport—is responsible mation would also produce significant co-benefits for for more than 80 percent of the sector’s CO2 emis- human health and well-being through the reduction of sions. Optimizing the contributions of the transport transport-related pollution. sector will be essential to achieving the mitigations The transformation of the transport sector, in sup- target. Some key trends include: port of climate action and other environmental goals, needs to be largely completed by 2050 or shortly • In 2012, transport was the largest energy con- thereafter, with all modes of transport—including suming sector in 40 percent of countries world- road, rail, air, and waterborne transport, for both wide, and the second largest in most of the people and goods—achieving global systemic change. remaining countries. This transformation will involve new consumption • Countries with low transport emissions per capita patterns and behavioral changes, major technological are in general those with the highest growth innovations, the emergence of new mobility ecosys- rates. tems, and the creation of new business models. • Countries with gasoline prices above US$1/li- The required scale and urgency of this change calls ter from 2000 to 2012 show clear reductions in for unprecedented immediate and coordinated mobili- transport emissions growth; as opposed to those zation of all transport sector players—including public that have kept gasoline prices artificially low due policy makers and private sector interests —and the to fuel subsidies. full participation of civil society. The transport sector cannot realize such ambitious targets in isolation, and Many countries are already taking climate change will require cooperation with other sectors—including mitigation seriously through transport system im- energy, health, and urban development. Only through provements. 75 percent of NDCs explicitly identify the concerted action will we be able to achieve sustain- transport sector as a mitigation source, and more than able mobility for all. 3 Based on analysis by SLoCaT Partnership. In addition, 9 percent of NDCs include a transport sector emission reduction target, and 12 percent of NDCs include assessments of country-level transport mitigation potential. 4 SLoCaT Partnership 2016. Nationally-Determined Contributions (NDCs) Offer Opportunities for Ambitious Action on Transport and Climate Change. 5 The statistics are based on data for cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants. Air quality guideline comes from WHO. Source: WHO Ambient air pol- lution: A global assessment of exposure and burden of disease. Connections is a series of knowledge notes from the World Bank Group’s Transport & Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Global Practice. Covering projects, experiences, and front-line developments, the series is produced by Nancy Vandycke and Shokraneh Minovi. The notes are available at http://www.worldbank.org/transport/connections. The GLOBAL MOBILITY REPORT 2017 is available at http://www.sum4all.org/publications/global-mobility-report-2017 DECEMBER 2017 NOTE 2017 - 9