By switching to dark mode you can reduce the energy consumption of our digital service.

Transport Toolkit: Developing strategies for clean, efficient transport

The LEDS GP Transport Toolkit aims to support development planners, technical experts, and decision-makers at national and local levels to plan and implement low emission transport systems.
Transport Toolkit LEDS GP

Introduction

With countries and cities facing a rising need for transport services over the coming decades, governments have a unique opportunity to meet this demand and enable economic growth while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions through the implementation of comprehensive policies, behavioral change, and adoption of energy efficient technologies for the transport sector.

Such advances will be essential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, which are underming adaptation efforts by driving futher climate change. Globally, the transport sector is responsible today for approximately 23% of total energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, and its emissions are increasing at a rate faster than that of any other sector.

The Low Emission Transport Toolkitsupports development planners, technical experts, and decision-makers at national and local levels to plan and implement low emission transport systems that support economic growth. This toolkit helps users navigate a variety of resources to identify the most effective tools to build and implement low emission development strategies (LEDS) for the transport sector.

It includes a variety of resources, including examples of how cities have sucessfully planned and developed public transportation systems that will be resilient to climate change (for example, New York’s PlaNYC), and on the use of climate finance for transport sector improvements.

Transport experts have historically guided efforts within the sector towards mitigation, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, they have also identified a need for sustainable transport to adapt to the increasing vulnerabilities of transport infrastructure arising from climate change. For example, the efficiency of public transport depends heavily on the conditions of the roads; if the roads are not adapted to withstand changing weather conditions, such as increasingly frequent extreme weather events, or higher maximum temperatures, the transport system’s ability to function properly can be severely hampered. Similarly, bus stops can be adapted to deal with increasing temperatures, rain, etc. for the comfort of the users, and so not to discourage the use of public transport.

The Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC) presented the COP22 Declaration on Accelerating Action on Transport Adaptation to the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to raise the profile of adaptation and resilience to climate change in the transport sector. The declaration states, “Crucially, sustainable passenger and freight transport systems must adapt to climate change to maintain reliability and increase market share, in order to achieve their full mitigation potential.”

Resources within the Low Emission Transport Toolkit, while focused on mitigation, also provide insights into how climate change adaptation can and is being incorporated into the transport sector development of multiple cities worldwide.

A screenshot from the toolkit shoing the multiple key action entry points that relevant resources can be accessed through.

Related resources

Add your project

Exchange your climate change adaptation projects and lessons learned with the global community.