The 20th of November marked the last day of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, intending to turn pledges into implementation. Looking back to last year’s meeting, COP26 had a full day dedicated to tackling the emissions from transport.
However, COP26 fell short on this topic: the focus was mainly on Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) and very little on active mobility. In reality, just over 1% of driven cars are electric, and we need to have 20–25% of all cars to be electric by 2030.
Even if the governments would hold their pledges and the share of electric vehicles on the road would rise to 14%, this is not enough. How did COP27 address this gap?
Recognising the solutions
The 17th of November at COP27 was “Solutions Day” and it highlighted entrepreneurs, initiatives and solutions, mobility among others. Governments in attendance seemed to have learnt lessons from the previous COP. There was a more comprehensive approach to the agenda highlighting walking, cycling and public transport in the discussions and initiatives.
Ahead of this year’s conference, a new global coalition was set up by Walk 21, the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) and UN Environment Program (UNEP). They officialised a partnership and published a report to highlight the potential of active travel, i.e. cycling and walking, to meet climate goals.
The report is a reminder that transport is still the sector seeing the biggest increase in greenhouse gas emissions. It’s also important to note that 60% of urban trips are shorter than 5 kilometres.
If electric cycling is popularised and the distance for biking extended to 10 kilometres, “the potential for active travel exceeds 75% of all urban trips in the world”. This is as surprising as it is promising. To get there, we would need to further prioritise walking and cycling in government pledges, infrastructure development, urban planning, and other factors stated in the report.
Main outcomes from COP27 for clean mobility
Solutions Day launched four initiatives and two of them directly related to mobility and urban planning. The Low Carbon Transport for Urban Sustainability (LOTUS) initiative aims at decarbonizing urban mobility. The solutions, though, need to be tailored to their respective geographical locations and cultures.
LOTUS is focusing their initial attention on the Global South. It is refreshing to see that increasing investments into walking and cycling infrastructure, particularly for low and middle income countries, are recognized as a viable solution. This could be an opportunity for the Global South to leapfrog the mistakes made by many Northern countries and start on a better path.
Another key initiative of the COP27 is the Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe). It aims to accelerate the uptake of active mobility and public transport, reduce car use, and develop better urban planning. This is the first time in COP that a global alliance between national governments, local governments and various non-state actors have set up a wide-ranging initiative to support sustainable cities while putting a core focus on active mobility.
The most contentious issue in Sharm El-Sheikh was loss and damage: Global South called for the North to finance the damage their past developments are causing. Tragically, it’s countries that have done the least to cause the climate crisis who are experiencing the worst effects of it – floods and droughts are more extreme, and even cause humanitarian crises. In a landmark decision, COP agreed on setting up a fund for loss and damage to help the most vulnerable countries to address climate-related disasters.
This was largely considered the biggest win of the conference. Although the focus was much on Africa this year, it is clear that Europe, among other Northern countries, need to step up on reducing their carbon emissions from transport. If they do not, there will certainly be more damage to make up for.
These initiatives bring a welcome focus on walking and cycling and establish a more intertwined agenda for sustainable transport. However, much more will be needed to move from car-centred development to cleaner mobility.
For example, electric cars and bikes will need to be charged with clean electricity. We must phase out all fossil fuels and produce energy from renewable sources. There was little progress on these other fundamental changes needed to meet the global climate target of keeping the warming at 1.5°C. We’re already at a 1.2°C increase.
Getting on track
COP27 gave some reason to be optimistic: the two initiatives – LOTUS and SURGe – put a spotlight on key solutions such as active travel and urban design.
But implementing them in cities and holding governments accountable for facilitating the mobility shift from heavy car use will be crucial. With the current government’s progress, the 1.5°C target is slipping out of our sight.
If we keep accomplishing these “simple” initiatives, like building more bike lanes, we could have huge solutions with relatively small footprints. Afterall, a bike (electric or not) takes less space, resources and infrastructure than a car.