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COP29 | A breakthrough for walking and cycling

Walking and cycling featured more prominently than ever before at this year’s COP29 climate conference. Thanks to the active engagement and advocacy efforts of the Partnership for Active Travel and Health (PATH) and its coalition partners, active travel is now firmly on the transport decarbonisation agenda, appearing for the first time in a COP breakthrough target.

Breakthroughs are global ambitions to accelerate solutions in high-emission sectors. The inclusion of walking and cycling marks a shift in the typical vehicle-focused “Avoid–Shift–Improve” sustainability framework. While the “improve” aspect has long dominated with an emphasis on vehicle electrification, the newly launched Transport Avoid & Shift 2030 Breakthrough adopted a more ambitious and balanced approach. Spearheaded by the UN High-Level Champions, and building on a call to action launched by the SLOCAT Partnership (a PATH founding partner) and other sustainable transport stakeholders at COP28, the breakthrough acknowledges that electrifying vehicles alone is insufficient to meet Paris Agreement goals:

“Double the share of energy efficient and fossil-free forms of land transport for people and goods by 2030, by focusing on shifts to public transport, walking, cycling and rail freight, as well as electric vehicles and railways”.

COP29 marked a significant shift as a growing number of senior officials explicitly recognised walking, cycling, and active mobility as key solutions for decarbonising transport and improving health and liveability. This was especially evident during the high-level ministerial meeting on Greening Urban Transport, where the PATH coalition, along with NGOs like UITP (public transport) and UIC (rail), highlighted the benefits of integrating walking and cycling with public transport. Government ministry officials from the European Commission, UNECE, UN Habitat, Asian Development Bank, and countries including Azerbaijan, Chile, Lithuania, and the UK explicitly mentioned active mobility in their official statements.

The timing of this breakthrough was particularly significant, coming just weeks after two other historic milestones for active mobility: 

  • The launch of the first-ever Pan African Action Plan for Active Mobility (PAAPAM) at the World Urban Forum in Cairo. This groundbreaking initiative, set to begin implementation in 2025, was launched by UNEP, UN-Habitat, and WHO, FIA Foundation and other partners, marking a significant step forward for walking and cycling policies across Africa.
  • The adoption of the draft Pan-European Masterplan for Walking by the Steering Committee meeting of the Transport Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP) at the 22nd session at the end of October.  Led by UNECE and WHO with inputs from the Walk21 Foundation and PATH coalition, the final draft was shared with the Walk21 Portugal conference in Lisbon.

 

Sharing of the Draft Pan-European Masterplan at the Walk21 conference in Lisbon

An eventful COP29 for the PATH coalition

PATH members made the case for cycling and active mobility at COP29 to government officials and other stakeholders as speakers in nine different events. These included a high-level ministerial transport event, an official UNFCCC COP29 side event, a Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action
transport thematic event, various panel events organised by national governments, and the prestigious Global Climate Action closing event
organised by the COP28 and COP29 UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, at which Jill Warren represented the voice of NGO Observers.

The COP29 events PATH was represented at included:

  • UNFCCC Official Side Event “Transforming Urban Mobility: Leveraging NDCs for
    Sustainable Transport and Climate Action”    , organised by UIC, FIA Foundation, and UITP
  • High-Level Ministerial Round Table on “Greening Urban Transport”, organised by the COP29 Presidency / Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan in partnership with the International Transport Forum (ITF).
  • Action Event on Transport – Unlocking ambition for transport: Leap towards a just and equitable 1.5°C future, organised by the Marrakech Partnership Focal Points for the Transport thematic group (ITF and SLOCAT) with support from the Climate Champions Team
  • Global Climate Action Closing Event: Champions for Change: Celebrating Progress and Potential in Global Climate Action, organised by the COP28 and COP29 UN Climate Change High-Level Champions.Unlocking the potential of sustainable urban transport for more climate ambition organised in the Sustainable Development Goals pavilion by UN-Habitat, UITP and World Bank
  • Active travel: a people-powered panacea? organised in the UK pavilion by Active Travel England
  • Accelerating Change: Unlocking Global Funding for Walking and Cycling Infrastructure, organised in the Benelux/EIB pavilion by the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
  • Walking the Path to Sustainability: Active Mobility, Public Transit, and Governance for a Greener Future, organised by the Office of the Secretary of State for Mobility, Republic of Portugal
  • Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) Transport Day organised by CCG, High Volume Transport (HVT), Asia Development Bank (ADB), GIZ, SLOCAT and World Resources Institute (WRI)

We also attended and gave a short welcome address on behalf of FIA Foundation at a Transport Community reception hosted by CCG, SLOCAT and FIA Foundation, which also sponsored the event.

Campaigning for walking and cycling to national governments

At COP29, we took the opportunity to meet with ministry officials and share in person the PATH COP29 Open Letter, calling on national governments to include walking and cycling in their climate commitments. The letter was signed by over 370 non-profit organisations from more than 70 countries. Officials we spoke with included:

  • Burundi: Dieudonné Dukundane, Minister of Infrastructure, Equipment, and Social Housing
  • Chile: Juan Carlos Munoz, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications
  • Netherlands: Afke van Rijn, Vice-Minister for the Environment and International Affairs
  • Somalia: Abdirizak Adam Gedi, State Minister of Planning and International Cooperation
  • United Kingdom: Mary Creagh, Minister for Nature
  • United States: Gretchen Goldman, Director of Climate Change Research and Technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation

PATH has a number of knowledge tools and guidance to support national policymakers in adopting walking and cycling as part of their
country’s climate commitments. During COP29, PATH launched a wide-ranging collection of 20 case studies—from Indonesia to Canada—demonstrating the transformative potential of active travel policies in cutting emissions, improving health, and enhancing quality of life. The case studies showcase real-world initiatives that bring to life the 20 actions detailed in PATH’s Active Travel NDC Template.

Championing the PATH Active Travel NDC template and guidance

PATH coordinating partners were very pleased to learn that the PATH Active Travel NDC Template and guidance document was included in two important publications aimed at government transport ministries: the ITF’s Guide to Integrating Transport into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions’ Whole-of-Society rallies to support strong National Climate Plans. This has ensured a wider dissemination of this important guidance and will hopefully lead to an even wider adoption of walking and cycling policies and commitments in countries’ next-generation NDCs.

Sheila Watson, Deputy Director of FIA Foundation, said, “PATH’s groundbreaking work has been paying off in so many ways. Our research, knowledge products and evidence based advocacy and campaigns have made the case for walking and cycling, encouraged governments and financing banks to widen their horizons and become more ambitious in their active travel policy actions and investments, and helped to influence the climate agenda and climate policy and targets at the highest international levels. I look forward to continuing this important work with PATH partners and supporters around the world.”

 

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PATH (Partnership for Active Travel and Health) is a coalition of leading NGOs calling on governments and cities to make a real commitment to walking and cycling as a key solution to the climate, health and equity challenges which they face. It is coordinated by a core group consisting of the FIA Foundation – who are funding the coordination work – Walk21, the European Cyclists’ Federation and the UN Environment Program.

PATH offers a variety of knowledge products and resources designed to support policymakers: