27 October 2009: The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released a publication entitled “Transport, Energy and CO2: Moving Toward Sustainability,” which builds a scenario to realize increases in global mobility while significantly lowering overall CO2 emissions by 2050.

The report discusses the urgent need to begin large-scale investments in public intra- and inter-city transit systems, as well as to adopt existing technologies that are energy and cost-effective. The report recognizes that, although necessary, these changes will not be sufficient to drastically reduce emissions from transport, and indicates that the major catalyst in this respect will be a technological revolution built on a combination of electricity, bioenergy and hydrogen power. Considering the high-costs and the relatively short time span in question, the report stresses that more than anything else, strong policy changes and intense international cooperation are necessary to realize meaningful global emissions reductions in the transport sector. [Press release] [The report] [Report summary]