Our SDG 13 Policy Brief is ready to download!

This November, we launched our latest Policy Brief on road safety and climate. The Brief, titled “Save Lives and the Planet: Safe Roads to a Climate-Proof Future” presents key data expounding on the linkages between road safety and climate. It also highlights the importance of the transport sector in determining the future of today’s youth especially when it comes to their demographic and democratic rights to have their demands on climate and road safety heard and implemented. 

The Brief was officially launched in a webinar led by our SDG 13 Champion, Shehab Abu Zeid. It also featured Conference of Parties (COP27) Youth Envoy Omnia el Omrani, COP27 Delegate El Khalil Cherif, SDG 13 Policy Brief writer Soumita Chakraborty, and FIA Foundation Deputy Director Sheila Watson. 

The session begins with Soumita talking about the benefits of the Policy Brief as an advocacy tool to support environment and road safety work with its evidence-based data, solutions, and recommendations. 

“Despite all the global and regional climate action commitments, greenhouse emissions from the transport sector are not declining in fact it is only increasing with every single year.  This brief provides three concrete arguments as to why the former that is climate action mitigation efforts will be incomplete or unsuccessful if we do not also ensure safe, sustainable, and low-emission transport options” - Soumita Chakraborty.

The three arguments are; (1) road crashes are the number one killer of youth and today this has turned into a public health crisis that cannot be ignored anymore, (2) the climate agenda and several of the SDGs have explicitly set targets which promote road safety, and (3) net-zero goals cannot be achieved without reducing emissions from the transport sector because it is one of the biggest contributors of greenhouse gas and, in turn, leads to climate change.

Soumita also discussed how members and other young people could localize the SDG 13 Policy Brief, saying that it is “extremely crucial”. She points out that the Brief has context-specific recommendations but leaves room for localization by personalizing the content as our leaders share the advocacy tool with their decision-makers and policymakers. She points out using concrete examples in their cities and communities to address different climate issues, also encouraging leaders to go into deeper research when creating climate plans and solutions. 

Following Soumita’s intervention, FIA Foundation Deputy Director Shiela Watson discussed how the cities of tomorrow could transform their transport sector to enable inclusive and low-carbon transport at the levels of policy action. She elaborates on how addressing the issue involved different elements coming together to create a sustainable solution locally and globally. 

“At the end of the day, it’s about acknowledging that we’re on an unsustainable path. It’s definitely about sorting out some of the big policy issues; fossil fuel subsidy is a key one. Moving towards renewable energy is another key one. Those are the key things that have to be settled at the very highest levels but they sit next to a whole range of things which we each can influence.” - Sheila Watson 

COP27 Youth Envoy Omnia el Omrani, during her intervention, spoke about the role of youth in the climate movement. She shared her experience as the Youth Envoy, saying “In COP27 as the president in Egypt, we really believed in the meaningful engagement and participation of youth and we wanted to do things differently.” 

The COP27 Youth Envoy served as the link between the challenges and solutions that young climate leaders have which translated into the work, the planning process of COP, the negotiations process within COP, and the post-COP period. Through the Youth Envoy, there was a “dedicated youth program” within the presidency space. 

Young people play key roles in meeting targets around climate and road safety. It is time they are included at all levels of decision-making and policymaking, especially around issues that most affect them. The webinar provided a platform for our members and other young people so that they are better able to phrase their demands around their road safety and climate needs. We encourage our youth leaders to share the Brief and to use it as an advocacy tool for local advocacy actions.