One for the roads: Sustainable transport needs policy recalibration

This sub-sector accounts for 87-90 per cent of the emission from the transportation sector, and for about a third of urban air pollution

The government’s decision to add a “sustainable transport” mission to its National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) will mark the first inclusion in the NAPCC in over a decade. The NAPCC mission for sustainable transport will encompass all the key elements of transport — from roads, railways, ports, shipping, and civil aviation. The real challenge for the government is to address the road sector. Unlike shipping and civil aviation, for which the government plans to align with international standards, there is no internationally agreed net-zero plan for the road sector. Transportation accounts for 10 per cent of the country’s