New mobility policy briefs emphasise the need for long-term zero-carbon transition pathways to meet climate targets

The transport sector is responsible for over 27% of cities’ CO2 emissions and over 14% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Cities must therefore decarbonise their mobility sectors rapidly in order to meet global climate change targets. Around 72% of total transport CO2 emissions come from road transport – and the transport sector has thus far proven hard to decarbonise. According to a new set of policy briefs, if cities are to achieve carbon-zero mobility, they need to embed carbon mitigation strategies within a longer-term approach: a zero-carbon transition pathway.

Cities need to establish the most suitable policy strategies for meeting long-term targets to contribute to a cumulative process of transition – getting from where we are now to where we need to be, by 2050. To learn more about identifying the policies needed to get us there, the timing and governance reforms required, policy-makers and city practitioners can refer to the policy brief 1 (see full list below).

This is just the first in a whole range of policy briefs stemming from CIVITAS SUMP-PLUS, a project in which ICLEI Europe is a partner. This project helps cities at varying stages of mobility development to bridge sustainable urban mobility implementation gaps. Other topics covered in the policy briefs include cross-sectoral collaboration, governance capacity-building, stakeholder engagement, data-sharing for partnerships and implementation strategies for smaller cities.
Read the policy briefs to learn more about the policy recommendations presented:

• Policy Brief 1: Planning a long-term zero carbon transition pathway
• Policy Brief 2: The role of cross-sector collaboration in reducing the need to travel
• Policy Brief 3: Building Governance Capacity To Achieve Sustainable Urban Mobility Transitions
• Policy Brief 4: Stakeholder Engagement – an essential steppingstone for achieving an integrated vision for sustainability
• Policy Brief 5: Data sharing to facilitate and strengthen partnership working
• Policy Brief 6: Delivering the Change: Developing a Comprehensive Implementation Strategy for Smaller Cities

To learn more, read the sustainable mobility resources and tools as well as the SUMP-PLUS approaches developed within this project.