Foreword

While the world continues to recover from the losses, hardships and disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are in a critical moment to collectively reflect on the future that we want and how we can achieve it.

With emissions from the transport sector growing faster than those from any other major economic sector, action in transport is needed urgently to deliver on the sustainable, low carbon future outlined in the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The SLOCAT Transport and Climate Change Global Status Report – 2nd edition continues the legacy of the report’s inaugural edition to tell the global and regional stories of where we are and where we need to urgently get to on climate action in the transport sector. With contributions from more than 150 world-class experts and organisations, it is a one-stop shop for the latest available data, targets and developments on transport demand, emissions, policies and measures – showing it is imperative to accelerate radical action for sustainable transport and climate in this time of change.

We hope this report helps identify some of the key levers of change in this uncertain time, and we look forward to continuing to track the latest developments in sustainable, low carbon transport for the next editions.

We warmly invite colleagues to continue to contribute more current and comprehensive data, amplify the analysis of this report, and use it to help reach our collective goal of mobility for an equitable world that is able to keep planetary warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

We are excited to launch this second edition of the SLOCAT Transport and Climate Change Global Status Report, which introduces several new elements compared to the report’s inaugural edition. These include seven “Focus Features” highlighting interlinkages of sustainable transport with broader sustainability themes, 31 country fact sheets taking a deep dive into progress at the national level, and an interactive website at www.tcc-gsr.com.

In addition, the Executive Summary summarises the trends and conclusions of the report and highlights threats, opportunities and uncertainties for climate action in the transport sector, illustrating the imperative for accelerating radical action. An updated version of the open-source SLOCAT Transport Knowledge Base that forms the basis of the report is also being released.

Driven by our passion for open-source data and knowledge, one of the aims of the SLOCAT Transport and Climate Change Global Status Report is to leverage the collective knowledge of the sustainable low carbon transport community. Data are important to provide a comprehensive picture of the status of this field, and in this time of change they are essential for policy and investment decision making. We hope that this report can be a useful resource for the SLOCAT Partnership and beyond.

Our warmest gratitude goes to all the colleagues who have helped shape this report. It has been truly our honour to work with more than 150 world-class experts across transport sector associations, knowledge and academia, governments, multilateral organisations, non-governmental organisations, philanthropy and industry. A special thanks to the financial supporters of this edition, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).