How Intelligent Transport Policies Can Help Stabilise Emissions

Modern society demands that we get from A to B as fast as possible. But at what cost? In many areas, greenhouse gas emissions are dropping, but in the transport sector there is an alarming rise. Within roughly the last decade, emissions from automobiles and other means of motorised transport have gone up by 20%. Projections foresee another 20% rise in many industrialised countries within the next ten years. In the USA, the rise in transport related emissions is officially projected to be as much as 46% within the next 20 years . In the emerging economies of China and India, the growth in transport related pollution has only just begun.

John Hay spoke with UNFCCC's Dr. Harald Diaz-Bone, review officer and transport expert with the UN Climate Secretariat's Implementation Programme, and enquired about positive examples of how intelligent, so-called 'integrated' transport policies can help stabilise emissions.