World Sustainable Transport Day

  Accelerating infrastructure development is key to responding to global challenges, but we must ensure that we leave no one behind. The world is facing grave challenges that place the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in jeopardy. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out more than four years of progress in poverty eradication, armed conflicts have caused a record 100 million people to be forcibly displaced, and climate change has induced heatwaves, droughts and floods that affect billions of people. Infrastructure development must be accelerated to respond to these challenges and address development gaps. Infrastructure is a key enabler of sustainable development, as it influences the achievement of up to 93% of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets. However, there remains a huge gap in infrastructure development worldwide. BBefore the COVID-19 pandemic, an estimated $97 trillion of global infrastructure investmen...

  Decarbonizing the transportation sector is imperative if we are to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. It is also a deeply challenging task that will require rapid adaptation and change. Because of the long lifetime of vehicles, it is urgent to immediately begin the transition to those capable of delivering deep GHG reductions. To that end, this briefing identifies very low-GHG passenger vehicle and fuel pathways. To summarize the key points:  • Only battery and hydrogen fuel-cell EVs have the potential to be very low-GHG passenger vehicle pathways. The GHG emissions from manufacturing batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines are more than outweighed by the GHG savings from the greater efficiency and cleaner energy supply of EVs compared to conventional vehicles. This is likely true for buses and trucks, as well.  • There is no realistic pathway to full decarbonization of internal combustion engine vehicles . Biofuels and other alternative fuels for conven...