Sustainable transport: Start with the roads
The union government has done well to add a mission dedicated to 'sustainable transport' to its National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC), considering the importance the transport sector has in the larger scheme of climate action. This will be the first inclusion of a new mission in the NAPCC in over a decade. Some countries including in the European Union and Africa have initiated similar programmes. The new mission would address vehicular emissions and develop green policies in the transport sector to achieve net-zero targets. The plan is being prepared with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (Morth) as the nodal body. It will have various sub-sectors such as road transport, railways, ports, shipping and civil aviation. The ministry has been working extensively on the plan and the mission will present an informed roadmap for the future..The focus on the transport sector, especially road transport, is critical to climate change mitigation programmes. Road transport is the largest contributor to pollution in India, accounting for about 12% of the country's carbon dioxide emissions. The sector will be the last to become carbon-neutral. There are international standards for net-zero targets in other sectors such as civil aviation and shipping. The international shipping and aviation sectors aim to transition to net-zero emissions by 2050. However, there is no internationally agreed-upon net-zero plan for the roads which are the most widely used component within the transport sector. Any plan to make the sector carbon-neutral has to start with road transport..The plans for reducing emissions in the transport sector will involve changes in logistics, design of roads and vehicles, laws, consumer behaviour, urban planning and various other factors. Emission standards that align with international norms will have to be set and alternative fuels and electric vehicles (EVs) will have to be promoted. The shift to the EV ecosystem involves many challenges. The EV industry is yet to become self-reliant and it will take many years to reach there. There are problems related to technology, charging infrastructure, investment, finances and marketing. The government's goal is to have EVs constitute 30% of the new private vehicle registrations by 2030. This is a major challenge, going by the present trends. A significant amount of freight also needs to be shifted from the roads to the railways if pollution from the roads is to be reduced. As the new mission takes shape, its proponents will have their work cut out to meet these objectives.
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