Transport

The energy sector is the source of around three‐quarters of greenhouse gas emissions today and holds the key to averting the worst effects of climate change, perhaps the greatest challenge humankind has faced. Reducing global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to net zero by 2050 is consistent with efforts to limit the long‐term increase in average global temperatures to 1.5 °C. This calls for nothing less than a complete transformation of how we produce, transport and consume energy. The growing political consensus on reaching net zero is cause for considerable optimism about the progress the world can make, but the changes required to reach net‐zero emissions globally by 2050 are poorly understood. A huge amount of work is needed to turn today’s impressive ambitions into reality, especially given the range of different situations among countries and their differing capacities to make the necessary changes. This special IEA report sets out a pathway for achieving this goal, resulting in a clean and resilient energy system that would bring major benefits for human prosperity and well‐being.

How people and goods get around our cities is undergoing considerable change. As new mobility options are introduced, cities and communities are trying to lower emissions, improve safety and increase affordability and accessibility of transport networks. Cities, mobility partners, and communities are taking a systems perspective to rethink the movement of people and goods. Developed by the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Mobility, the Guidelines for City Mobility: Steering towards collaboration reflect shared goals for liveable and just transport networks and cities. This document provides eight practical guidelines – from data-sharing to multimodal integration – that help establish, develop and strengthen partnerships between cities and mobility partners. These guidelines are intended to serve as a blueprint for collaborations, including existing, new and future partnerships. Each guideline is intended to complement the operating authority of cities with the creativity and innovation of the private sector. It is our hope that cities and mobility partners around the world will deploy these guidelines in their work. We invite cities and mobility partners to confirm the guidelines that resonate for their context, adapt them as necessary and apply them consistently with all stakeholders.

Many governments are finding it difficult to finance the growing demand for essential infrastructure through public funding alone. With the significant increase of debt in many countries while needs for essential infrastructure continue to expand, private-sector involvement has increasingly been viewed as a potential solution to closing the infrastructure financing gap and ensuring the efficient delivery and operation of infrastructure services. Still, private-sector investment in infrastructure, particularly in developing countries, remains low owing to a variety of real and perceived challenges. This insight report is the culmination of a multi-year collaboration between the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Long-Term Investing, Infrastructure and Development 2016-2018. It presents recommendations that incorporate public and private sector input on how to tackle the key challenges in Brazil’s infrastructure market. The goal is to enhance trust between the public and private sectors, so that they may jointly mobilize more domestic and international financing to meet Brazil’s long-term infrastructure needs and increase the participation of long-term investors in Brazil’s infrastructure market. The recommendations in this report build on those in the World Economic Forum report on Risk Mitigation Instruments in Infrastructure – Gap Assessment (2016), and this body of work has provided valuable insights to the Forum’s National Infrastructure Acceleration Initiative. The recommendations herein were developed through the conduct of interviews with working group members from the private sector and were endorsed by selected policy-makers.

Global demand for transport is growing fast. On present trends, passenger and freight activity will more than double by 2050.Such growth is a token of social and economic progress. But it carries with it growth in energy demand and in emissions of CO2 and atmospheric pollutants.Greater reliance on rail can cut that growth. The world is becoming ever more urbanised and rail travel is well matched to urban needs.High-speed rail can serve as an alternative to short-distance air travel. Conventional and freight rail can complement other transport modes to provide efficient mobility.This book shows what can be done and how. Its scale is global, with a special focus on the needs and opportunities in India.

Transportation, connectivity, accessibility, mobility – many terms point at a range of different perspectives on the phenomenon of transport. Mobility is essentially a basic human need and in economic terms transport infrastructure has to be considered as a conditio sine qua non for any kind of activity. In the past decade the so-called digital revolution has started to pervade road as well as rail transport meaning an increasing use of digital technologies in vehicle technology and – on the part of infrastructure – in traffic management, control and information systems.

Who will win the battle of new mobility services? Our Automotive Disruption Radar provides new insights Since 2017 we have been charting a concept of mobility in transition with our semi-annual Automotive Disruption Radar (ADR). The current fourth edition confirms the main developments: more and more people think that using a car does not necessarily mean that you have to own one, consumers can increasingly imagine buying a car with electric drive and more and more cities are granting permits to trial autonomous vehicles on their streets. Last but not least, the number of employees in R&D departments around the world working on new mobility concepts and autonomous vehicles is still rising.

Pedal power is becoming the transport mode of choice for urban dwellers around the globe. Bicycles offer a means of travel that allows people to get to their destination quickly and cheaply, especially in large cities with congested roads. With worldwide sales of bike sharing services forecast to increase to EUR 8 billion by 2021, a veritable race for global supremacy has already begun. Rapid growth, especially in Asia, is fueled by the continued strong demand for cost-effective mobility, largely unregulated market access and massive investment. Private providers have recently mobilized more than USD 3 billion in venture capital to expand not just in China, but globally. Asian market leaders ofo and Mobike (each with 200 million registered users), which, unlike European providers, operate free-floating instead of station-based systems, have been pushing the European market since 2017. The study shows that the bike-sharing market is benefiting from rising global environmental awareness and the common sharing trend, as people are more willing to pay for mobility than for owning a car or a bicycle. In addition, cycling is cheaper than a taxi, ride-hailing or an own car, and more flexible than public transport systems. Because the use of a rental bike can also be easily combined with other means of transport, bike sharing will become an important pillar in a growing urban ecosystem of sharing (car, bicycle, ride-sharing) and mobility services (platforms, apps, aggregators).Despite the promising opportunities offered by the burgeoning bike-sharing market, the rapid pace of growth is not without its pitfalls. Operators are faced with becoming the target of vandalism, or oversupply in certain cities. We predict the market will consolidate in the coming years, with a smaller number of high quality offerings surviving the initial boom to find longer term success.

An assessment of public infrastructure development in the Western Balkans. The paper quantifies the large gaps across various sectors/dimensions, evaluates current infrastructure plans, and discusses funding options available to countries in the region. The paper also identifies important bottlenecks for increased infrastructure investment. Finally, the paper quantifies potential growth benefits from addressing infrastructure gaps, concluding that boosting the quantity and quality of infrastructure is vital for raising economic growth and accelerating income convergence with the EU. The paper concludes with country-specific policy recommendations.

This of the world migration report is the first in the revised series designed to better contribute to understandings of current and strategic migration issues. Part I includes separate chapters on global migration trends and patterns; regional dimensions and developments; and a discussion of recent contributions to migration research and analysis by academia and a wide range of different organizations. The six chapters in Part II cover a range of “complex and emerging migration issues” including:
• the development of global governance frameworks for international migration;
• the relationship between migration and rapidly changing levels and types of transnational connectivities;
• migrants’ perspectives on migration journeys;
• media reporting on migration and migrants;
• the relationships between migration and violent extremism;
• migrants and cities.