99685 Connections Transport & ICT The Next Step for Transport in the SDGs: Devising the Right Indicators Shaping Transport’s SDG Impact Bernhard Ensink,* Shokraneh Minovi, Roger Gorham, and Nancy Vandycke Transport was not part of the Millennium Development 169 Goals (MDGs) for 2000–15, which were adopted at the United Nations in September 2000. The omission was widely viewed in the transport community as a missed opportunity to use the strong linkage between transport and economic development to advance the attainment of the MDGs. Now a new 15-year development framework, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The number of global SDG for 2015–30, are about to be endorsed at the United targets to be reached by Nations summit to be held September 25–27, 2015. 2030, with several directly This time, transport will be part of the framework as a and indirectly involving key contributor to sustainable development. The SDGs transport comprise 17 goals and 169 targets; five of those targets directly involve transport, and attaining at least another six will critically depend on it. But efforts to influence the post-2015 development agenda will go on after the summit because the question of what indicators will be used to measure success is yet to be resolved. Attention in the transport community must now pivot toward that question to assure the selection of the most effective measures. A Broader Vision Thus, the SDG framework covers the three dimen- sions of sustainable development: economic, social, The MDGs mainly addressed the socioeconomic and environmental. The framework will stimulate issues surrounding poverty reduction. The vision action in all countries over the next 15 years in the about to be endorsed in the SDGs is far more ambi- areas of critical importance for humanity: people, tious, aspiring to transform the world. It reflects planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. sustainability challenges more clearly and recog- nizes that national issues are increasingly con- nected globally in scale and scope. Ending poverty The Opportunity is inconceivable without simultaneously achieving Water and energy are the only infrastructure sec- peace, dealing with natural disasters, connecting tors represented by distinct SDGs. However the people to a market economy via better access to transport sector is mainstreamed into many of the infrastructure, and reducing the impact of climate SDGs, including energy as well as food security, change. health, infrastructure in general, urban develop- ment, and climate change. * Secretary General of European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF, www.ecf.com) and of the World Cycling Alliance. The ECF and the World Bank are members of the Technical Working Group of the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport. SEPTEMBER 2015 NOTE 20 The mainstreaming of transport across the SDGs— productivity (Target 2.1), air pollution (3.9), access in many cases explicitly through supporting tar- to safe drinking water (6.1.), sustainable cities (11.6), gets—underscores its importance as a critical sec- reduction of food loss (12.3), and climate change tor—an “enabler” of other sectors’ achievements. adaptation and mitigation (13.1). Indeed, in some cases, the largest benefits of action in transport are often visible only in other sectors. For example, the broadest gains from investing Indicators are Key in vehicle and road safety will show up, without With goals and targets set for the next 15 years, the explicit regard to transport, in better health and question of indicators to measure progress now economic outcomes. Thus, the broad economic and comes into focus. Indicators will be the main tool social influence of action in transport requires sys- used by all stakeholders to measure and evaluate temic thinking when defining and tracking “sustain- progress toward a specific target. The transport able transport” in the context of the SDGs. community should now concentrate its efforts on developing and promoting the transport indicators Five Transport Targets that will be most effective in creating economic, social, and environmental benefits. Of the SDG framework’s 169 targets, five are di- rectly related to the transport sector: If the rural transport accessibility indicator—the share of the rural population within 2 kilometers • Target 3.6. By 2020, halve the number of global of an all-weather road—is accepted as a tool to deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents. measure the SDG goal on food security (and the • Target 7.3. By 2030, double the global rate of associated target on agricultural productivity), the improvement in energy efficiency. enabling role of rural transport infrastructure and • Target 9.1. Develop quality, reliable, sustainable, services will be fully acknowledged. and resilient infrastructure, including regional and trans-border infrastructure, to support economic Similarly, making vehicle fuel efficiency an indica- development and human well-being, with a focus tor associated with the target on energy efficiency on affordable and equitable access for all. will show that a key to energy success lies within • Target 11.2. By 2030, provide access to safe, af- the transport sector. The list of indicators to sup- fordable, accessible, and sustainable transport port the SDG framework is expected to be final- systems for all, improving road safety, notably by ized by March 2016. This does not leave much time expanding public transport, with special attention for the transport community to engage with the to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, UN Statistical Commission, the Inter-Agency and women, children, persons with disabilities, and Expert Group on SDG Indicators, and the relevant older persons. stakeholders to get transport front and center in • Target 12.c. Rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel sub- the sustainable development agenda. sidies that encourage wasteful consumption by For more information on this topic: removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances, including by restructuring Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Global Action: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/ taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies, transformingourworld where they exist, to reflect their environmental Results Framework on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport: impacts, taking fully into account the specific http://www.slocat.net/resultsframework needs and conditions of developing countries For more information on the Secretary-General’s High-level and minimizing the possible adverse impacts on Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport: their development in a manner that protects the https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/ sustainabletransport/highleveladvisorygroup poor and the affected communities. But transport is also a critical enabler of achieve- ment in other sectors’ targets, such as agricultural Connections is a weekly 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 SEPTEMBER 2015 NOTE 20