As the dust settles on a particularly fierce end to COP29 we reflect on the key areas where HVT and our partners looked to progress the development of fairer, safer, inclusive and sustainable transport in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs.)
Climate Finance
Front of mind from the very start of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan was climate finance culminating in a formal agreement for high-income countries to take the lead in the mobilisation of US$300bn a year of climate finance for low-income countries. Although formally approved in the final moments of COP it was heavily criticised by a number of LMICs for not going far enough.
A report from the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance found that developing countries – excluding China – would need $1 trillion per year in climate finance by 2030, going up to $1.3 trillion by 2035. In an HVT working paper produced by the World Resources Institute (WRI) we found that within this $1 trillion, the transport sector will need roughly $575 billion per year by 2030, including around $450 billion for low emission transport infrastructure and $125 billion for fleet electrification and alternative fuels.
HVT’s Access to Climate Finance in LMICs working paper from WRI was launched on 18th November at the Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) programme’s COP side event in partnership with HVT and other stakeholders. The report examines the landscape of international climate finance for transport in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, looking at 839 transport projects and conducting 14 case studies. The international climate finance mechanisms studied included climate funds, multilateral development banks, donor governments, and private investors.
The study not only identifies the gaps in climate finance for transport but looks at common barriers to accessing finance including inadequate policy frameworks, limited project preparation capacity, high upfront costs and risk perceptions, complex funding requirements, and difficulties in assessing projects’ broader socioeconomic benefits.
Need to raise ambition of NDC
The gap in climate finance is one example highlighting a need to raise ambitions for transport – most importantly in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which lay out the efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to climate change. With the next round of NDCs due to be submitted in 2025, the role of transport in the NDCs was a critical element of HVT’s call to actions at COP29.
The state of play of transport targets in NDCs in Asia and the Pacific is the focus of a United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) policy paper developed with HVT funding by SLOCAT as part of the Regional Cooperation Mechanism on Low Carbon Transport.
Recommendations from the policy brief were presented during three events at COP29 including “Effective transport strategies for boosting the NDCs†hosted with UNESCAP; “Transforming the Way We Move: Building a Low-Carbon Mobility Future in the Region in the Next Round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)†hosted with the Union for the Mediterranean and at the event “Transforming Urban Mobility†hosted with the International Union of Railways (UIC), FIA Foundation and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). The policy paper calls for 10 recommendations to raise ambition for transport in NDCs, including a call for better planning and tools to achieve transport targets and to incorporate avoid, shift and improve strategies.
The NDCs in Asia-Pacific were also the focus on a new report launched by Jamie Leather from the Asian Development Bank at the CCG side event. The report from Asian Transport Outlook (ATO) and co-funded by HVT - Bridging the Gap: A Deep Dive into NDCs and Transport Policy Landscapes in Low- and Middle-Income Asian Economies – is a deep dive, examining the alignment of NDCs with national transport policies across LMICs in Asia-Pacific. The report reveals crucial gaps in policy integration, outlines emerging opportunities for low-carbon transport development, and highlights best practices for transitioning toward sustainable mobility in rapidly urbanising regions.
It calls for policymakers and implementers to consider and address several key issues, including:
- Integrating climate considerations into broader transport policies and aligning them with sustainable development goals.
- Raising the bar towards ambitious targets and measures for the transport sector in NDCs: often, there are gaps between existing high ambition transport targets and measures, and the policy ambition in a country’s NDCs.
- Addressing the freight blind spot.
Capacity building
Echoing SLOCAT’s 2024 Action Agenda for enhanced ambition, capacity and finance we supported a call to action for better ways to set targets and measure progress in achieving low carbon transport. At the CCG COP side event, SLOCAT presented the HVT funded, Transport Decarbonisation Index (TDI) that will soon be launched. The TDI is a diagnostic toolkit to assist LMICs in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in surface transport. The TDI assesses a country’s preparedness towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, enabling comparisons with other nations and tracking long-term progress.
Looking toward the Decade of Sustainable Transport
As COP29 closes we not only look to COP30 but to consultation setting the framework for the Decade of Sustainable Transport. The Decade begins in January 2026, and HVT is supporting SLOCAT and partners to inform crucial consultations over the next two months that will set the stage for the aims and plans for the coming 10 years. At a panel during the event “Preparing for the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport 2026 – 2035 hosted by United Nations Departments of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), SLOCAT spoke about how the Decade can enable transport transformations and turbocharge commitment and action.