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Our 10 proposals at COPs to leverage cycling for climate protection

A disregarded leverage for transition

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NDCs are comprehensive climate plans that countries are adopting as pledges to achieve the Paris climate agreement. Their next revision will be in 2025. Only 25% of those NDcs include active travel measures (cycling and walking). Moreover those who do mention active travel measures do not impose deadlines. Looking more specifically at cycling, only 17% of high income countries include cycling in their NDCs. Besides NDCs, only 17% of countries have a national policy on cycling. While the combination of a realistic shift to walking/cycling/public transport could lead to 50% reduction in transport emission (*) this is clearly a disregarded leverage at the COP level !

(data from PATH - Partnership for Active Travel and Health)
(*see research from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) )

Our 10 proposals for the COP 30
(January 2025 version)

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1/ Complete a basic structural network of bike lanes until 2030, especially with inter-town AND multimodal connectivity for daily journeys. If the base is already in place, make it ambitious !

2/ Decrease car traffic by limiting both speed and volume.

3/ Design dedicated plans going to 2030 and covering all the possible leverages to develop cycling (with appropriate, dedicated funding and implementation reviews that include the bike associations).

4/ Increase exclusive bike/walk areas significantly until 2030 near schools, public transport hubs, local shops, green areas.

5/ Generalize appropriate bike storage capacity in transport hubs, shopping area (!), schools, offices, homes until 2030 (incl cargo-bikes).

6/ Develop a time and a place for cycling : one mass yearly cycling event, for all ages to advocate to a wide audience + one "house of the bike" to repair, train, meet, host...

7/ Train and inform : training, especially below 12 and women, for better cycling and empowerment; promote financial benefits (cost is ten times higher per year for a car!).

8/ Develop the associated economic sector (services, manufacturing, leasing, sharing...) via specific tax incentives/subsidies.

9/ Develop cargo-bike logistics for "last mile" delivery (a recent study shows that 42% of utility van deliveries could be made with cargo-bikes).

10/ Implement and share very regularly indicators to measure and monitor (satisfaction, accidents, dedicated network size, modal share...).

Hard facts: how much carbon emission can be saved with those proposals ?

Swapping one daily car trip for a bike ride for 200 days a year saves about half a tonne of CO2 per person annually​ Cycling UK - ECF


Transport emissions can reduce by 8% if one in five urban residents shift from cars to bikes​ Cycling UK


If short car journeys under 6km are replaced with cycling, emissions could decrease by 0.12 million tonnes annually​ RTE​


In cities, 75% of the journeys are under 3km, for cities where bike transport is only 3% of the modal split that is up to 72% of the transports that could be done by bicycle and thus reduce carbon emissions compared to cars or public transport !


The ultimate goal ? Contribute to
"80% walking, cycling and public transport
share in trips, to deliver 50% less transport emissions by 2030"
(credit : PATH - Partnership for Active Travel and Health)