Rio+20: A Move Towards More Sustainable Transportation
Washington, D.C.—Emissions from transportation are the fastest
growing source of global greenhouse gas emissions, with
emissions expected to increase 300 percent by 2050, according to
research by the Worldwatch Institute. Today, emissions from
transportation contribute to approximately 80 percent of the
harmful air pollutants that result in 1.3 million premature
deaths annually, according to Michael Replogle and Colin Hughes
of the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP).
The two authored the fourth chapter, “Moving Toward Sustainable
Transport, in Worldwatch’s book State of the World 2012: Moving
Toward Sustainable Prosperity, published in April. The largest
financial commitment made at the Rio+20 Conference on
Sustainable Development in June 2012 was a pledge by the 8
largest multilateral development banks (MDBs) to commit 500
staff and to dedicate $175 billion for more sustainable
transportation in the coming decade. This unprecedented