PATH releases further knowledge tools for policymakers: Walking and Cycling Policy Regional Fact Sheets

The Partnership for Active Travel and Health (PATH) coalition has launched Walking and Cycling Regional Fact Sheets, a new set of knowledge tools to support national and regional policymakers in committing to walking and cycling in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). NDCs are the formal carbon reduction commitments that governments make within the UNFCCC climate change framework process. The fact sheets were produced with the support of the FIA Foundation.

Based on PATH’s 2023 report analysing walking and cycling policies in all 197 UNFCCC countries, the regional fact sheets feature a comprehensive set of infographics analysing NDCs, National Walking Policy (NWP), and National Cycling Policy (NCP) across six regions, detailing their objectives, actions, investments, and evaluations.

Using the World Health Organization (WHO) defined regions, the regions covered by the fact sheets include:

• African Region
• Eastern Mediterranean Region
• European Region
• Region of the Americas
• South East Asia Region
• Western Pacific Region

The regional fact sheets complement PATH’s Active Travel NDC Template and the dashboard visualising data from PATH’s 2023 report, both of which were launched in May of this year in advance of the International Transport Forum Summit. The regional fact sheets are a timely addition, as the next NDC submission runs from November 2024, when COP29 will take place in Azerbaijan, to February 2025, ahead of COP30 in Brazil. They further illustrate the progress made by countries in integrating walking and cycling strategies into their policy frameworks, facilitate direct comparisons between countries and pinpoint areas requiring additional investment and ambition.

Sheila Watson, Deputy Director of FIA Foundation, announced the launch of the regional fact sheets on 19 June in Ghent at Velo-city, the premier global conference for cycling planning and promotion, in front of an audience of over 1,500 public officials, NGOs, cycling advocates, companies and academics from over 60 countries.

Watson spoke in the high-level plenary session “Cycling strategies – Joining national and international forces” alongside Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister Georges Gilkinet, European Commission Director General of DG MOVE Magda Kopczyńska, Poland’s Director of the Department of Transport Strategy at the Ministry of Infrastructure Adrian Mazur and Cycling Industries Europe CEO Kevin Mayne. The session was moderated by Jill Warren, CEO of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), a founding partner of PATH.

In her remarks Sheila Watson said, “Enabling more people to walk and cycle safely and to access public transport can cut transport emissions in half by 2030 and contribute significantly to achieving the Paris Agreement. Yet PATH’s groundbreaking research shows that walking and cycling is significantly undervalued in countries’ NDCs. Even though two-thirds of nations have active travel policies in place, there remains an urgent need for increased ambition, action, and investment to fully unlock the benefits of walking and cycling for climate targets. Our regional fact sheets, dashboard, reports and NDC template are unique resources that provide valuable support to governments in comparing and benchmarking their existing policies. We urge countries to take full advantage of them to commit to walking and cycling in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).”

Commenting on the launch of the regional fact sheets, Jim Walker, Founder of Walk21, said: “The fact sheets are a further tool to support governments in becoming more ambitious and impactful with their NDCs. Along with PATH’s report and NDC template, they inform and guide policymakers in maximising the potential of active travel for reducing transport emissions in a quick, affordable, and reliable way.”

Jill Warren said, “As a founding partner of PATH, ECF is delighted to showcase PATH’s latest knowledge tools and share them with the global cycling community at our annual flagship Velo-city conference. We call on policymakers and advocates to use them to evaluate and build active mobility into new commitments to walking and cycling to meet climate goals and improve people’s health and lives.”

The article PATH releases further knowledge tools for policymakers: Walking and Cycling Policy Regional Fact Sheets first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.