World Sustainable Transport Day

Annually held on 26 November, World Sustainable Transport Day is the UN’s effort to spotlight the critical role of transport systems in human development — and the urgent need to make those systems environmentally sustainable.

It was established in 2023 by the UN General Assembly under resolution A/RES/77/286, recognizing that transportation — while essential for mobility, trade, and economic growth — remains a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation.

Sustainable transport isn’t just about cutting emissions: it’s about ensuring mobility supports economic opportunity, social inclusion, and long-term environmental health.

Transport is vital for connectivity: It allows people to access jobs, education, healthcare, and services; and enables the movement of goods that power trade and industry. Still, it is a major polluter: the sector is responsible for nearly one quarter of global CO₂ emissions, and most land, sea, and air transport still depends on fossil fuels, making decarbonization a challenge.

Sustainable transport is a lever for social equity and development: By improving accessibility, affordability, and safety, it can help reduce inequality, empower marginalized communities, and enhance well-being.

Thus, sustainable transport can turbo-charge progress toward broader goals rather than being a narrow technical issue.

Each 26 November, governments, organizations, and citizens are encouraged to raise awareness about transport sustainability. This might include public-education events, discussions on intermodal transport systems, promotion of non-polluting transit (public transport, cycling, walking), and advocacy for inclusive infrastructure.

Looking ahead: 2026 marks the beginning of the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport (2026–2035), an ambitious phase meant to scale up global efforts the aim of building transport systems that serve people and the planet.

Stakeholders are invited to submit voluntary Sustainable Transport Action Commitments to contribute to the Decade’s goals.

As the UN emphasizes, transport choices. Whether commuting, traveling, or moving goods, the options we choose can reduce emissions and improve air quality. That can mean:

• Choosing public transit or cycling rather than driving.
• Supporting investments in low-carbon infrastructure and clean energy transport.
• Advocating for inclusive transport policies that ensure safe, accessible mobility for all, including vulnerable populations.

Through such choices, individual action combines with systemic change, contributing to climate goals, better health, and more equitable societies.

Transport is more than moving people and goods: it’s infrastructure for opportunity, inclusion, and resilience. As the UN underscores, sustainable transport is a cross-cutting accelerator: one that can fast-track progress toward multiple global goals: erasing poverty, reducing inequality, fighting climate change, empowering women, and unlocking economic development.

By transforming how we move societies can build a future where mobility goes hand in hand with environmental stewardship and social justice. World Sustainable Transport Day is a global reminder of that vision.

For more information, please visit UN News.