Lack of investment in safe walking and cycling infrastructure is contributing to the deaths of millions of people and overlooking a great opportunity to contribute to the fight against climate change, according to a new UN Environment report.
In Global Outlook on Walking and Cycling, UN Environment calls on countries to invest at least 20% of their transport budgets in walking and cycling infrastructure to save lives, reverse pollution and reduce carbon emissions, which are rising at over 10% a year.
“People are risking their lives every time they leave their homes,” said Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment. “But it isn’t just about accidents. Designing transport systems around cars puts more vehicles on the road, increasing both greenhouse gas emissions and deadly air pollution. We must put people, not cars, first in transport systems.”
The report surveyed the progress towards safer walking and cycling infrastructure in 20 low- to middle-income countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America, where compared with high-income countries, twice as many more people die in road traffic accidents.
Of the most dangerous countries to walk and cycle from the sample, four African countries topped the table. In Malawi, a total of 66% of all road fatalities were pedestrians and cyclists; in Kenya 61%; South Africa 53%; Zambia 49%; and in Nepal 49%.
Some 1.3mn people die each year on the roads, almost half of them pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Motorised transport is responsible for a quarter of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and is the fastest growing sector in greenhouse gas emissions – it will be responsible for a third of CO2 emissions by 2050 at current rates.
Poor air quality, in part due to vehicle emissions, is estimated to cause around 7mn premature deaths each year and is increasing health problems like bronchitis, asthma, heart disease and brain damage.
The global fleet of private cars is projected to triple by 2050, with most of this new vehicle growth expected to take place in the same developing countries that are already hardest hit by road fatalities and injuries.
In line with current trends, not only will this result in a staggering increase in road fatalities globally, but the increase in carbon-polluting cars will severely restrict the world’s ability to limit the global average temperature rise to less than 2°C.
“Unless we act to make our roads safe, in 10 years an estimated 13mn more people will have died on our roads – that is more than the entire population of Belgium. The human impact is horrific, but the impact on all of our survival must not be ignored,” Solheim added.
UN Environment is also urging countries to draft national and local policies for Non-motorised Transport (NMT), and if they already exist, immediately act to implement them.
NMT users should be asked where they walk and ride – particular focus is needed on vulnerable users, such as women, children, elderly and people with mobility challenges. Above all, walking and cycling ought to be given equal status to private cars.
It is worth remembering in this context that Qatar’s Ministry of Municipality and Environment has announced a plan recently to establish 15 pedestrian flyovers within Doha and its suburbs.
