For the 93rd issue, the Bulletin focuses on the theme of “Low Carbon Transport”.

Among all the factors directly influencing the capacity of Asia and the Pacific to deliver on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, transport stands out as a continuous challenge and a tremendous opportunity for the transition to economic, social and environmental sustainability. The demand for transport and mobility, as compounded by the emergence and continued development of geographically dispersed supply chains, while already consuming a major part of the region’s natural resources, is continually on the brink of exceeding capacity. Since 2010, the transport sector’s emissions have increased faster than any other end-use sector. It represents the largest energy consuming sector in 40 per cent of countries worldwide, and is the second largest in most of the remaining countries.

Increasing pressures arising from the fact that transport remains a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and a major consumer of fossil fuels, as well as from emerging and potentially disruptive technologies, indicate that traditional thinking around transport policies and actions need to be reassessed. The understanding of how low-carbon transport and energy technologies will evolve is still not well developed, and assessing this gap remains challenging for the transport sector. Climate change and the growing frequency of extreme weather events also increase the vulnerability of transport networks and call for leaps in the quality and reliability of transport connectivity across the region. The adoption of low carbon transport strategies; the development of mass transit systems in cities; the shift to renewable energy sources, including the transition towards electric mobility, as well as prioritizing active mobility are maturing in the region. However, the pace is not fast enough to decarbonize transport by mid-century as committed by many countries.

This year, on 26 November 2023, the United Nations celebrated the inaugural World Sustainable Transport Day, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in resolution A/RES/77/286. Among others, the resolution invited organizations of the United Nations system to enhance the knowledge of the public on sustainable transport issues. In that spirit, this year’s issue of the Bulletin features the traditional peer-reviewed papers as well as additional content on Low Carbon Transport, such as opinion pieces, interviews and surveys.