G20 finally gets smart

23 July 2012 - With the world’s urban population set to rise to 4.5 billion by 2025, efficient urban mobility and adequate urban public transport infrastructure are critical to helping achieve sustainable, green growth. The number of trips made in urban areas every day will increase by 50% between 2005 and 2025. But the increase also has the potential to fuel increased car use if green urban mobility is not prioritised by decision makers.

A shift from private use to public transport, which emits 3.5 times less greenhouse gas per passenger per km, will help reconcile economic growth and environmental policy priorities resulting in the green growth the planet needs, as advocated by the Smart Move values of efficiency and environmental friendliness

The Smart Move campaign to double the use of bus and coach would also ensure an expansion in the number of green jobs. The G20 has finally recognised that this green expansion would also stimulate the wider growth of the economy at a time when growth is desperately needed.

G20 finance ministers now need to heed the call from the world’s 20 biggest economies, the World Bank, and Asian Development Bank and support investment in infrastructure and urban planning to help citizens make the smart move!

Read the G20 report on ‘Cities at a Crossroads: Unlocking the Potential for Green Urban transport’

Discover more about the World Bank’s sustainable cities programme.