The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) has come out in favour of cycling with a resolution that recognises the importance of the bicycle for sustainable development and as an everyday means of transportation.

The new resolution was adopted by unanimity after it was brought to the floor of the General Assembly on 16 March 2022 by Turkmenistan, with joint authorship from nine other countries, including Bahrain, Burundi, Philippines and Vietnam.

Introducing the resolution, Turkmenistan highlighted that it was supported by 50 UN member states and emphasised the need for countries around the globe to integrate cycling into public transportation systems. The representative observed that the bicycle was invented over 200 years ago and has been a major mode of transportation for 140 years, with one billion bicycles in circulation worldwide and half of humanity having access to cycling.

Underscoring cycling’s health benefits and important role in decreasing transport emissions worldwide, Turkmenistan’s representative said that many countries, especially in the developing world, still see cycling as a sport rather than transport, something that must change. The representative called on all countries to support cycling by improving road safety, investing in urban infrastructure and advancing cross-cutting strategies in public policy.

The resolution invites all member states “to integrate cycling into public transportation, in urban and rural settings in developing and developed countries” and take initiatives that help increase bicycle trips for the benefit of sustainable development and the reduction of transport emissions.

More recognition for cycling at the global level

ECF strongly welcomes this resolution. Though it is non-binding, it is an important step towards the recognition of cycling as an important mode of transport and a positive step forward from the COP26 Transport Declaration Glasgow in November 2021.

During COP26, ECF led a global coalition of 350 civil society organisations in a joint letter to governments demanding that “world leaders must commit to boosting cycling levels to reduce carbon emissions and reach global climate goals quickly and effectively.”

The letter was the spearhead in a concerted civil society effort to have transport ministers at COP26 acknowledge that their agenda’s exclusive focus on the electrification of motor vehicles was not enough to achieve the massive cuts in CO2 emissions that the world needs right away.

The campaign was a big success, directly influencing transport ministers to include language in their declaration at the last moment in support of active travel: “Alongside the shift to zero emission vehicles, a sustainable future for road transport will require wider system transformation, including support for active travel, public and shared transport (…)”

Turkmenistan’s resolution must also be viewed within the context of other global efforts, such as THE PEP Partnership on Active Mobility (previously, the Partnership on Cycling Promotion), which has involved the participation of 30 states alongside ECF, the European Commission, the European bicycle industry and ECF active mobility allies such as Walk21. In May 2021, this partnership adopted a Pan-European Master Plan for Cycling Promotion, which ECF contributed to with advocacy and expertise. The next step for this partnership is to develop a road map action plan to implement its objectives, which ECF will focus on during 2022.

We need cycling to help save our planet

Going forward, ECF sees the new UN resolution as a key tool for further advocacy on behalf of cycling, walking and public transport at COP27 in Egypt. Our need to collectively take drastic action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is as urgent as ever.

The latest IPCC report warns of irreversible impacts of global warming and that 40% of the world’s population is highly vulnerable to the climate crisis. The co-chair of the IPCC, Professor Debra Roberts, said the new IPCC report “indicates that places where people live and work may cease to exist, that ecosystems and species that we’ve all grown up with and that are central to our cultures and inform our languages may disappear.”

Now, more than ever, transport ministers must change the narrative around cycling so that it becomes a key and necessary form of transport. Research continues to conclusively demonstrate how cycling reduces greenhouse gases. For example, the chart below shows how bicycles – both conventional and electric bikes, shared and private – outperform all other modes of transport in their life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions.

Source: International Transport Forum, 2020

The UN resolution also underscores ECF’s current recommendations for including cycling infrastructure in the EU’s flagship transport policy, TEN-T. In article 2 of the resolution, it urges “Member States to devote particular attention to the bicycle in cross-cutting strategies … and to include the bicycle and bicycle network infrastructure that connects communities in international, regional, national and subnational development policies and programmes.” This is at the core of ECF’s demand that the new TEN-T Regulation, which is currently in negotiation between EU member states and EU parliamentarians, includes the financing and delivery of cycling infrastructure in TEN-T projects.

Governments must quickly commit financial investments in safe cycling infrastructure and other policies that incentivise more people to cycle as their primary mode of transport and increasingly replace car trips with bike trips.