Transport systems are vital factors for economic growth, trade and communication, necessary to ensure the continuity of supply chains, access to services and the overall functioning of the economy. However, transport also accounts for almost a quarter of global energy-related CO₂ emissions, while increasingly frequent and severe weather events disrupt transport systems, threaten security, cause economic losses and limit access to jobs, markets and essential services.
UNECE is responding to these challenges through mitigation and adaptation work outlined in its Inland Transport Decarbonisation Strategy adopted in 2024, as well as through its stress test framework for assessing the resilience of transport systems, a new template for preparing inland transport-specific components of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and the development of a globally agreed methodology for measuring the carbon footprint of vehicles.
At the COP30 side events, organized jointly with ECLAC and ESCAP, UNECE showcased these tools and explored actions to accelerate the translation of commitments into concrete actions for a cleaner and more sustainable future for global transport.
Decarbonizing transport
With over 30,000 components and complex global supply chains, the automotive industry is an example of the challenge and opportunity to reduce carbon emissions. A key focus is to reduce the carbon footprint of vehicles through a technology-neutral “cradle-to-grave” assessment that captures emissions from production, use and end-of-life.
The UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) is currently developing the world’s first harmonized methodology to measure the carbon footprint of vehicles throughout their entire life cycle – from raw material extraction and production to use and end-of-life. This important milestone is expected to be adopted in March 2026. It will provide governments and industry with a common framework to quantify and compare vehicle emissions, support evidence-based policy and promote the transition to truly sustainable mobility.
With the participation of Prince Jaime de Bourbon de Parma, the Netherlands Climate Envoy, and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), an exchange of views took place on the potential for greater coherence between the maritime and inland transport sectors, in particular on the well-to-wheel or well-to-trail (WtW) fuel cycle, harmonizing carbon accounting methodologies for different fuels. Participants also noted the long-termthe possibility of developing interoperable data systems that could enable more consistent tracking of upstream emissions across transport modes remains at an early stage of research.
To accelerate the transition to cleaner mobility, UNECE is advancing regulatory work on battery durability and emphasizing the link between vehicles and the renewable energy systems that support them, through its Working Group on Electromobility.
Finally, with a new template for integrating the transport sector into nationally determined contributions (NDCs), UNECE aims to help countries systematically reflect the role of the transport sector in their climate commitments. The template offers clear indicators and metrics for measuring emission reductions, as well as quality guidance on integrating transport measures into broader development strategies to help Member States translate their efforts to decarbonise transport into credible, measurable and transparent national reporting.
These initiatives and tools are based on the UNECE Inland Transport Committee’s Decarbonization Strategy. Together, they form a coherent framework that combines global standards with national implementation and illustrate how regulation, innovation and data can work hand in hand to translate ambition into tangible results and accelerate the global transition to low-carbon, sustainable mobility systems, said Dmitry Mariasin, Deputy Executive Secretary of UNECE.
Developing climate resilience
To limit the growing economic and social costs of climate change, urgent action is needed to strengthen both new and existing inland transport systems. A key first step is to understand the impact of climate hazards and assess the sensitivity and vulnerability of infrastructure and operations.
At a side event organized jointly with ECLAC, UNECE demonstrated how countries and international organizations are advancing these efforts through geospatial climate risk analysis, data integration and collaborative tools such as the International Transport Infrastructure Observatory (ITIO).
This data-driven platform aggregates information on transport networks and combines it with climate hazard data. It already contains climate impact data for Europe, Central Asia, North America and the Middle East, allowing policymakers in these regions to visualize risks and identify transport systems that require more detailed vulnerability assessments. The platform will be expanded to include additional regions and datasets to create a truly global resource for climate-resilient transport planning.
As part of its efforts to expand the geographical reach of climate-resilient transport planning, UNECE has endorsed the proposal of the South American Infrastructure Observatory of the Brazilian Consensus to collaborate with the ITIO platform and with ECLAC to incorporate GIS data and climate risks for South American transport networks. The invitation was extended during the COP30 side event by Mr. Murilo Lubambo, General Coordinator for South American Integration, Ministry of Planning and Budget, on behalf of the Government of Brazil.
Founded on 30 May 2023, the Brazilian Consensus brings together twelve South American countries — Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela — with the shared goal of strengthening regional linkages and promoting integration. This initiative marks a significant step towards creating a truly global platform for climate-resilient transport planning.
Participants were also informed about the UNECE stress test framework for assessing the resilience of transport systems, which helps countries determine whether a specific transport system can withstand a series of stress tests linked to defined hazard scenarios and thus be assessed as resilient to such scenarios. For transport systems that fail these stress tests, targeted adaptation programmes should be put in place. UNECE supports Member States in developing adaptation pathways: forward-looking strategies that guide investment and maintenance decisions under different climate scenarios.
By combining infrastructure and hazard data, scientific predictions can be translated into practical insights, “identifying where extreme heat could disrupt a key corridor, where reducing flood risk is most urgent or where financing maintenance will provide the greatest resilience gains, giving policymakers the opportunity to act before disasters strike,” said Mr. Mariasin.