This week, 197 countries gathered in Glasgow for the United Nations Climate Summit, telling the public, they want to make an impact and meet the 1.5° target. Governments need to create the framework for everyone to do even their small part to turn the tide in the right direction. What are the quickest and most useful ways to limit climate change and its devastating consequences as much as possible?
One of the biggest drivers of emissions
Let us look into the current state of emissions – what are we trying to solve. In Europe, about 29% of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the transport sector, and about half of those emissions come from passenger vehicles like cars, vans and motorbikes. These actions are leading to millions of tons of unnecessary emissions going up in the air every day. The leaders at COP26 are seeking to reduce these emissions mainly with electric cars.
Sure, electric cars are better in comparison to petrol and diesel cars, but there are even better ways – especially for short trips. And for instance, half of all car trips are less than 5 kilometres. Some trips might be good for walking, while others might need a regular bike, or an electric bike to move fast and easily. We need to support these solutions much faster. The governments need to give as much funds and emphasis for the support of walking and biking networks as they have the ability to lower the emissions. The bigger the potential for avoiding emissions, the more right to be in the focus of urban planning and strategic funding.
E-bikes and the transformation of our city centres
Especially in city centres, it is a good idea to use your own running shoes or a two-wheeler. Most of the time you get there sooner than the car driver on the same route who is still looking for a parking space.
E-bikes offer an interesting solution, as they make a larger radius of distances on the saddle possible, which means that significantly more journeys can be replaced that would otherwise have been undertaken by car.
Research studies estimate as well around 20 % reduction in car km driven when adopting an e-bike so there is much untapped potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
E-bikes solve the parking problem in inner cities and offer people of all ages more sustainable agility in everyday life. Of course, it is beneficial for motivation to get on a bike every day if it is even more fun and you have some tailwind while riding on the way to the next appointment in the city.
Now – The moment for a change of course
Some cities are on the right track. Copenhagen is planning to build 746 kilometres of new bike paths and 49% of its citizens bike to work or studies. Barcelona has a 10-year plan of transforming its streets to spaces for joy, wellbeing and, simply put, for life. This is the future we want to live in. If we shift our focus from the status quo and simply replacing existing cars with electric cars to the ways that provide the most value both in terms of economics and emissions reductions, a world of best available solutions opens up.