Most countries now taking action on climate change by investing in transport, says World Bank

The World Bank has hailed commitments to meet the Paris agreement on climate change through investing in public transport in cities and shifting freight to railways and waterways.

Previously, the transport sector was "conspicuously absent from climate talks," but now over 70% of national proposals to implement the Paris Agreement include transport commitments, according to Jose Luis Irigoven, the World Bank's director of transport and information and communications technologies global practice. He hailed Morocco, 2016's climate talks host, as "a leader in mass transit investment on the continent," other "climate-smart" projects such as Dar es Salaam's new bus rapid transit, and said India is working to decouple economic growth from growth in carbon emissions.

While the president-elect of the United States is sceptical about climate change, the World Bank will "keep the momentum going... [by] articulating a clear, coherent vision for sustainable mobility, matched with adequate climate financing, said Irigoven, with a new platform, Sustainable Mobility for All, allowing the transport community to speak with one voice and allowing governments to more effectively include climate considerations into their transport plans.