Our 10 proposals at COP29 to leverage cycling for climate protection

A disregarded leverage for transition

NDCs are comprehensive climate plans that countries are adopting as pledges to achieve the Paris climate agreement. Their next revision will be in 2025. Only 25% of those NDcs include active travel measures (cycling and walking). Moreover those who do mention active travel measures do not impose deadlines. Looking more specifically at cycling, only 17% of high income countries include cycling in their NDCs. Besides NDCs, only 17% of countries have a national policy on cycling. While the combination of a realistic shift to walking/cycling/public transport could lead to 50% reduction in transport emission (*) this is clearly a disregarded leverage at the COP level !

(data from PATH - Partnership for Active Travel and Health)
(*see research from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) )

Hard facts: how much carbon emission can be saved with those proposals ?

Swapping one daily car trip for a bike ride for 200 days a year saves about half a tonne of CO2 per person annually Cycling UK - ECF

Transport emissions can reduce by 8% if one in five urban residents shift from cars to bikes Cycling UK

If short car journeys under 6km are replaced with cycling, emissions could decrease by 0.12 million tonnes annually RTE

In cities, 75% of the journeys are under 3km, for cities where bike transport is only 3% of the modal split that is up to 72% of the transports that could be done by bicycle and thus reduce carbon emissions compared to cars or public transport !

The ultimate goal ? Contribute to
"80% walking, cycling and public transport
share in trips, to deliver 50% less transport emissions by 2030"
(credit : PATH - Partnership for Active Travel and Health)

Our 10 proposals for the COP 29
(June 2024 version)

1/ Increase dedicated infrastructure by 100% until 2030, especially inter-town AND multimodal network connectivity for daily journeys(to replace car trips).

2/ Increase school and work trips by 150% until 2030 via tax, subsidies and promotion

3/ Design dedicated multi-years plans covering all the possible leverages to develop cycling (including dedicated funding! )

4/ Increase exclusive bike/walk areas by 100% until 2030 near schools, public transport hubs, local shops, green areas.

5/ Develop cargo-bike logistics for "last mile" delivery (a recent study shows that 42% of utility van deliveries could be made with cargo-bikes)

6/ Develop one mass cycling event per large city to advocate on this means of transport.

7/ Train and inform : training in schools for better cycling; promote financial benefits (500€ vs 5000€ per year for a car!).

8/ Develop the associated economic sector (services, manufacturing...) via specific incentives/subsidies

9/ Implement and share very regularly indicators (satisfaction, accidents, dedicated network size, modal share...).

10/ Increase bike storage capacity by 100% in transport hubs, shopping area, schools, offices until 2030.