Today marks the official launch of the UN Decade for Sustainable Transport 2026 – 2035. With the climate crisis escalating with each year that passes, it could not come at a more crucial time. Developing road safety through the Safe System Approach is a key target for the Decade of Action. This is both an issue of resilience, as the changing climate will exacerbate the safety of roads, and an issue of mitigation, as safer roads enable sustainable mobility.
Transport alone makes up 13.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), with 88.3% coming from road traffic: passenger vehicles, freight and public transportation.1 In all five Eastern Partnership (EaP) member countries, the transport sector is the largest single contributor of GHGs.2 The need for a more sustainable transport system is therefore paramount.
As is the case in many countries, cities in EaP member countries experienced car-centric development throughout the 20th century, prioritising wide roads to maximise the space for passenger vehicles and increasing speeds to decrease journey times. Since the turn of the millennium there has been rapid growth of passenger vehicle fleets. For example, Moldova’s fleet almost tripled between 2000 and 2020, while Georgia’s fleet grew by 230% between 2004 and 2014.3 Without any substantive, corresponding growth in urban road networks, this has led to increased congestion, pollution, noise, and reduced connectivity in urban areas. All these factors are proven to have a major impact on health outcomes making them the concern of anyone interested in improving road safety.
Road safety can contribute to GHG reduction
Reducing travel times by increasing speed and road space has been a misnomer for sustainable development. Not only is speed a key factor for both the likelihood and severity of a potential traffic collision, with every additional kilometre-per-hour increasing the risk of injury by 2-3% and the risk of death by 4-5%. Higher speeds also use more energy, which means more fuel and more GHGs, as well as encouraging a culture of car-centrism. In urban areas, higher speed limits create rapid acceleration and deceleration, generating more greenhouse gas emissions than steady slower driving. Evidence has shown that reducing speeds from 50km/h to 30km/h can result in large reductions in CO2 (about 15%), NOx (about 40%) and carbon monoxide (about 45%).4 While for intercity travel, every 8km/h above 95km/h can result in 8-10% increase in carbon dioxide emissions.
Though the use of electric vehicles is increasing, the majority of vehicles in EaP countries are still powered by fossil fuels. In Armenia, here has been a particularly high growth in electric vehicles due to a tax-free initiative seeing approximately 15,000 imported electric vehicles in 2025 alone, rising from around 150 in 2019. These now make up no more than 3.6% of the 800,000 vehicles in the country. While these vehicles are an improvement on Armenia’s reliance on dangerous and polluting natural gas engines, electric cars still rely on fossil fuel produced electricity, essentially outsourcing the emissions to another sector. Furthermore, this trend perpetuates a car dependency and discourages modal shift to healthier and more sustainable forms of active travel or public transport, which would better address issues of congestion and urban space as well as public health.
Indeed, in urban areas, high speeds, wide roads or congestion all contribute to a hostile environment for road users like pedestrians and cyclists. This is primarily a result of the perceived and real danger posed by traffic. Carbon-neutral active travel is disincentivised and non-inclusive private vehicle use is more likely, creating a feedback loop that increases road risk and greenhouse gas emissions.
The ballooning vehicle fleets lead to urban congestion, which negatively impacts journey times for public transportation like buses, coaches and trams. Statistically, taking public transportation is far safer than travelling in a private vehicle. But slow journey times, inaccessibility, and the perceived risk of taking public transit, which particularly affects marginalised groups, such as women, LGBTQIA+, and people with disabilities, pushes people into private vehicles. This issue is compounded with the constraint private vehicle usage puts on transport budgets through the need for regular road maintenance and development. This leads to underfunded and inefficient public transportation, as shown through decreasing investment in rail investment as a percentage of overall inland transport across Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova, reinforcing the cycle.5
Improving road safety, therefore, is the foundation of developing more sustainable modes of transit, like taking public transport, walking or cycling. Lower speeds are more sustainable and make walking and cycling more accessible. Street reclamation, the process of converting lanes for regular traffic into larger pavements, bike lanes or bus and tram lanes, not only incentivise safer and more sustainable forms of transport but also reduce the risk of vehicle-on-vehicle collisions by proper lane separation.
Climate change exacerbates road safety
The current transport system is contributing to a climate crisis that will worsen the safety of roads if not addressed urgently. The increase in prevalence of extreme weather conditions means more severe periods of droughts, floods, and other extreme events. This affects visibility on the road, the durability of infrastructure and creates extremely hazardous conditions for driving. The associated risk of flooding and landslides can also have far more severe consequences; the damage to infrastructure can increase the risk of collisions and slow post-crash response for years after the initial shock.
Extreme heat can melt tarmac and buckle roads, whilst increasing the risk of mechanical failure due to overheating.6 Road users are also affected, with the risk of heat stress or heat stroke increasing, especially in poorly air-conditioned vehicles, increasing the risk of collision by driver impairment.
Climate change is creating issues for at least four of the major pillars of the Safe System Approach: hazardous infrastructure, impaired road users, slow post-crash response, and faulty vehicles. If left unaddressed, this will feed back into the transport system, incentivising further use of private vehicles that worsen road safety and sustainability.
Taking action
Viewing sustainable transport in isolation from road safety risks failure to address the fundamental dynamics that underpin the transport sector’s major contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The comorbidity of poor road safety and pollution can seem daunting, but it also means that simple measures can have major ripple effects. The introduction of 30km/h speed limits, for example, will improve road safety and sustainability, whilst incentivising alternative modes of transportation that will further improve road safety and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In a commitment to this goal, in 2026, the EaP RSO will be launching a 12-month digital campaign to raise awareness for the implementation of 30km/h speed limits in urban areas across the region. The campaign will focus on linking the safety benefits of slower speed limits to wider benefits from the perspective of climate, resilience, active travel, health, social and economic inclusion, and sustainability.
About the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport 2026-2035
In 2023, through UN Resolution 78/148 “Strengthening the links between all modes of transport to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, the General Assembly declared the first ever United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport to start in 2026. Member States also requested the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) to develop an Implementation Plan for the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport, in collaboration with the UN Regional Commissions and in consultation with member States, the United Nations system and all other relevant stakeholders.
The United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport (2026-2035) will be an opportunity to further raise awareness of transport’s crucial role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals and to gather and rally new solutions, resources and partnerships to advance sustainable transport globally.
The Implementation Plan will guide coordinated, multi-level action throughout the Decade by providing a strategic global framework to accelerate progress towards sustainable, inclusive, and resilient mobility systems. Global and non-binding in nature, it will support Member States, UN system entities, subnational authorities, and all relevant stakeholders in translating shared priorities into concrete regional, national and local policies, partnerships, investments and capacity-building efforts.
[1] https://www.wri.org/insights/4-charts-explain-greenhouse-gas-emissions-countries-and-sectors
[3] Road Safety Performance Review Moldova E_0.pdf
[4] https://www.roadsafetyngos.org/events/why-30-for-the-environment/