To keep global mean temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius, as suggested in the Copenhagen Accord, developed countries will need to reduce emissions 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020. In addition, developing countries would need to reduce GHG emissions of 15-30% below Business as Usual (BAU) by 2020. For the transport sector this would translate to 0.6-1.3 GtCO2-eq/yr reduction by 2020. For comparison, Europe’s total transport emissions were 1 GtCO2-eq in the year 2000.
Some of the highlights of the study are:

• Initial analysis of commitments made by developing countries following the Copenhagen Accord shows that developing country action still falls short of the suggested 15-30% reductions in GHG emissions below BAU by 2020 and the role of transport is not well articulated.


• There is a growing number of scenario analyses for the transport sector which indicate that such emission reductions are feasible in the transport sector, in particular as in the transport sector, many co-benefits exist with air quality, congestion policy and energy security of supply.


• There is a shift in thinking on how to best mitigate climate change in the transport sector away from a focus on purely technological fixes to include measures aimed at modal shift and avoidance of travel.


• The overall impact of the existing climate instruments has been modest in terms of direct emission reductions, because of the size of overall funding for these instruments and the percentage of funding allocated to the transport sector as well as methodological requirements for GHG emissions reductions assessments and perceived costs and complexity of reducing transport GHG emissions.


• The role of post 2012 CDM in transport sector will remain limited due to its more stringent requirements for assessment of GHG emissions reductions compared to GEF, CTF and future climate mechanisms.


• NAMAs, offer potential to strengthen climate change mitigation in the transport sector in developing countries. This is helped by the expected availability of considerably larger financial support.


• External assistance to transport sector will be a mix of existing special climate funds or mechanisms: CDM, GEF or CTF, or from development agencies especially the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) as well as NAMAs


• Although international mechanisms can catalyse investments, the bulk of investments for climate action in the transport sector will need to come from domestic sources. Therefore it will become increasingly important for external funds i.e. climate change funds and MDB to catalyze and leverage domestic funding.


• The case studies conducted under the project on NAMAs and standardized baselines show that there are substantial local and global environmental benefits associated with the analysed urban transport NAMAs, as well as economic and social benefits.


• Co-benefits (e.g. reduced congestion, improved air quality) can play a decisive role in determining the extent to which a transport measure will be implemented. It is important therefore that supported NAMAs give fuller recognition and reward to co-benefits than the existing climate instruments.


• A continued emphasis on incremental costs as one of the main criteria to decide on investment funding of supported NAMAs may further limit funding for climate change mitigation in the transport sector. A new appraisal methodology will need to be developed to assess support to investment costs under a supported NAMA.


• Support for barrier removal and capacity building can help developing countries to catalyze the formulation and implementation of sustainable, low carbon transport policies, programs and projects. A contribution to investment costs would be required as well in order to mitigate risks associated with the high investments and the uncertainty of consumer behavior, and to create an additional incentive to governments to implement and maintain the measure.


• The case studies demonstrate the complexity of MRV, in a context of limited availability of reliable data, which makes it hard to come up with reliable estimates of GHG emission reductions. MRV for transport needs to be flexible and requires different types of indicators.


• Financing of supported NAMAs could be linked to the amount of GHG emissions reduced by the NAMAs, and a substantial part of the funding can be made available upfront, based on ex-ante emission reduction analysis.


• It is recommend setting up pilot projects and programmes of transport NAMAs. The SLoCaT Partnership and the Bridging the Gap Initiative can play an important role in documenting and sharing the results of transport NAMAs.

See the case studies

The project will improve the quality of urban life in the capital city of Nepal by delivering a more efficient, safe, and sustainable urban transport system (UTS), favoring local economic growth and addressing climate change and air pollution mitigation. The UTS will be enhanced by focusing on (i) a plan to rationalize and upgrade the existing public transport network, tested through the implementation of pilot routes provided with electric vehicles; (ii) traffic management works and measures that will enable heritage routes in the city center to be pedestrianized and improve general walkability (general walking conditions); and (iii) improvement of air quality monitoring. The project aims to integrate these components holistically.

See the project document here.

Green Mobility, member of SLoCaT Partnership, is a consultancy specialized in developing mechanisms for a more sustainable mobility in companies and governments.
Efficient Means of transport are fundamental to the effective functioning of cities and one of the criteria for economic prosperity and welfare of its inhabitants. At the same time, the economic benefits of the transportation sector are often accompanied by negative side effects such as congestion, social exclusion, accidents, air pollution, noise pollution and inefficient energy consumption.

Within this context arises the concept of green mobility, which seeks innovative strategies for the access of people to goods and services to their destinations with less environmental, economic and social impact. The greatest challenge has been in how to turn one of the major problems in cities in opportunities and gains for sustainable development.

Green Mobility has the major role of contributing to minimize these problems, with the development of integrative solutions on sustainable urban mobility in society and enabling forms of promoting Public and Private Partnership in this segment.

European Green Mobility Tour 2010

It is part of the organization’s objective to provide a benchmark of the cities that work the concept of green mobility. Thus, Green Mobility, in cooperation with the Brazilian National Association on Public Transport (ANTP), is organizing the European Green Mobility Tour 2010. This tour involves a broad agenda on sustainable urban mobility in Germany, with the participation of German authorities from transport and environmental sector, businesses and organizations of management and technology in transportation, and universities with projects aimed at innovation in this subject.

In 10 days we will visit a series of events and projects related to sustainable urban mobility. We will participate in one of the largest fairs in transport innovation and technology, INNOTRANS Exhibition, as well as the International Symposium on Mobility Network of the University of Stuttgart, and get to know more than 20 successful programs and initiatives on mobility management and planning in Germany, such as the electric vehicle system, “E-mobility Berlin”, programs on intermodal sharing, and Green City projects of Nuremberg and Freiburg. We will see in practice solutions that are transforming German cities in world references on sustainable, low carbon transport.

The tour includes 5 German cities: Berlin, Nuremberg, Munich, Freiburg and Stuttgart.

Berlin: (City Hall of Berlin and German Ministry of Transport and Urban Development)

1. Visit to urban mobility projects of the senate of Berlin in the field of sustainability – implantation of the Low Emission Zones


2. Reception with Deutsche Bahn (DB) – technical visit at the Berlin Central Station (operation and modal integration)


3. Technical visit and test drive with Daimler and RWE for “E-Mobility Berlin”, a project considering the largest network for electric vehicles


4. Participation of the largest exhibition in the world on technological innovation for transport – InnoTrans – specialized on railway transport


5. Opportunities for technical cooperation in the city of Berlin


6. Presentation by VMZ (traffic management company in Berlin) on transport planning for the World Cup 2006 and its legacy on mobility

1. Green Capital City projects for Nuremberg


2. Policies on non-motorized integration and the automatized subway system of Nuremberg


3. Meeting for technical cooperation with the City Hall of Nuremberg


4. Visit to the Football stadium of Nuremberg


5. DB Railway Museum (175 years celebration)

1. Mobility management policies of Munich


2. Bus corridors system and traffic management of Munich


3. Visit to the Allianz Arena and the mobility projects for the World Cup 2006


4. Tourism in Germany – Royal Castles and open day for Oktoberfest

1. Reception at the historic City Hall for network


2. Compact cities – policies on sustainable mobility of Freiburg


3. Green City projects of Freiburg 4. Vauban neighborhood – car free projects

1. Introduction and reception with mayor for Cities for Mobility Network


2. Meeting for technical cooperation between cities


3. Visit to Porsche Museum


4. Visit to Stuttgart Stadium – 80% of accessibility by public transport


5. International Symposium on Networks for Mobility by the University of Stuttgart – themes: – Traffic management – E-Mapping – Matching – Traffic analysis via mobile – Analysis on capacity management of transports – Research methodologies on urban mobility for cities and companies

The ADB’s Board of Directors today approved a multitranche financing facility which will help fund part of the government’s huge urban investment program, earmarked at $1.1 billion between now and 2020.

Read on…

The report shows how redirecting a portion of such investments to lower-carbon sustainable transport projects could have significantly cut CO2 emissions. For example, if ADB’s investment in expressways had been cut by half in the past decade and the funds instead invested in 6,863 km of road rehabilitation, 824 km of BRT, and 32,942 km of bikeways, it would have cut ADB’s transportation sector carbon footprint by 25%, to 591 million tons.

The ADB report provides new analytic tools for carbon emissions intensity measurement, suggests ways to improve project designs to cut CO2, and offers suggestions for including carbon emissions monitoring into ADB’s project reporting process. The new sketch analysis tools for CO2 evaluation are designed to evaluate various road, public transport, and non-motorized transport initiatives, with sensitivity to induced demand, network saturation, and variations in motor vehicle fleet composition. These have been recently published for public comment by ADB here. These ADB-supported tools are being further developed and adapted by ITDP and CAI-Asia for proposed use by the Global Environmental Facility.

Download the report here.

In total, 827 experts will contribute to the AR5, divided between the three Working Groups (WG) of the Panel. WG I focuses on the physical science basis and will include 258 experts. WG II, which assesses the impacts, adaptation strategies and vulnerability related to climate change, will involve 302 experts. The assessment in WG III, which covers mitigation response strategies in an integrated risk and uncertainty framework, will be carried out by 267 experts. See http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/press-releases/ipcc-wg3-ar5-authors.pdf for the authors of WG III

For the Transport Sector the following persons were selected
Coordinating Lead Authors :

Roberto SCHAEFFER – BRAZIL
Ralph SIMS – NEW ZEALAND

Lead Authors

Felix CREUTZIG – GERMANY
Xochitl CRUZ-NÚÑEZ – MEXICO
Marcio D’AGOSTO – BRAZIL
Delia DIMITRIU – ROMANIA
Maria Josefina FIGUEROA – DENMARK
Lew FULTON – FRANCE
Kebin HE – CHINA
Shigeki KOBAYASHI – JAPAN
Peter NEWMAN – AUSTRALIA
Minggao OUYANG – CHINA
Steven PLOTKIN – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Robert SAUSEN – GERMANY
James Jay SCHAUER – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Review Editors
Suzana KAHN RIBEIRO – BRAZIL
Lee SCHIPPER – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA