Global transport decarbonization strategy adopted by UN

In response to the growing global challenge of greenhouse gas emissions, the United Nations has adopted a global strategy to decarbonize land transportation. The sector generates about 23 percent. of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, of which 72 percent. comes from land transport – mainly road (69 percent), as well as inland waterways (2 percent) and rail (1 percent). Projections indicate that by 2050. demand for passenger and freight transportation will increase by 79 percent, respectively. and 100 percent. Faced with such an increase in demand and high carbon emissions, the Inland Transportation Committee (ITC) is proposing urgent measures to reduce emissions. Will this strategy make a difference?

Global decarbonization strategy – goals

The Land Transport Committee plans to help UN member states and other parties to the agreement achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions from land transport. The use of legal instruments is expected to enable such an outcome by 2050. As noted by the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, Tatiana Molcean: Decarbonization of the transportation sector lags behind many other sectors. The strategy will help countries meet a significant portion of their climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. Its adoption therefore represents a key milestone in climate action.

As part of a global strategy to decarbonize land transportation, special emphasis is being placed on developing public passenger transportation. The strategy also supports initiatives to promote bicycle use and walking as healthier and cleaner alternatives to personal transportation. In the area of freight transport, key measures include improving the technical condition of vehicles, modernizing infrastructure and optimizing border procedures to increase efficiency and reduce harmful gas emissions. It will be possible to achieve these goals through the implementation of new regulations and the intensification of international cooperation between all the countries involved.

The specific goals of the adopted global strategy to decarbonize land transportation focus on maximizing energy efficiency. This is being pursued by improving driver practices and integrating intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and digital solutions. The strategy also envisions accelerating the replacement of internal combustion vehicles by zero-emission models, while emphasizing support for research and development of green fuels and green energy generation technologies. There are also plans to modernize automotive components and analyze the life cycle of infrastructure, which is expected to contribute to their longer use within the principles of a closed-loop economy.

Ways to implement the strategy

The global decarbonization strategy will be implemented with ITC’s initial action plan. It sets out the next steps by which the Committee will help member states achieve their goals. This will be done through avoid-shift-improve decarbonization measures. (avoid-shift-improve). These include avoiding unnecessary mileage, switching to low- and zero-emission modes of transportation, and improving vehicles, infrastructure and transportation processes.

All activities will be reviewed as part of the plan’s regular biennial review. Subsidiary bodies of the ITC will then be able to submit their proposals for changes. The entire global decarbonization strategy will be reviewed every five years. This will occur for the first time in 2029. At that time, the Land Transportation Committee, in overseeing the review, will determine its scope.

Current UN legal instruments

Regulations are already in place today to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. For example, the European Agreement on Main International Railways (AGC) and the European Agreement on Main Inland Waterways of International Importance (AGN) lay the groundwork for creating infrastructure to foster a shift from road to rail and inland waterways.

Besides, the promotion of multimodal transport to reduce the burden on Europe’s road network and mitigate environmental damage is enabled by the European Agreement on Important International Combined Transport Lines and Related Facilities (AGTC). Other UN regulations offer the possibility of harmonized measurement of fuel consumption and_CO2 emissions of vehicles and the widespread introduction of alternative fuels.

The UN Economic Commission for Europe is already developing a globally harmonized methodology for determining the carbon footprint of vehicles over their entire life cycle. It also deals with regulating the climate impact of some 23 million used vehicles that were exported between 2015 and 2020. About 66 percent. of which went to developing and transition countries. Mark Harbers, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands, opening the 86th. ITC session, said it was important to make the transition to clean transportation equitable. Therefore, the ITC has taken the lead in developing quality standards for the import and export of used vehicles.