UN Promotes Cycling to Reduce Greenhouse Gases Emissions

The United Nations General Assembly's 193 members passed a resolution on Tuesday endorsing bicycles as a strategy for combating climate change.

BIke — Photo by Khachik Simonian Unsplash

Adopting Resolution

Turkmenistan submitted the resolution, which was unanimously passed and, like other General Assembly resolutions, is non-binding.

It encourages members to "integrate bicycles into public transportation in urban and rural settings in underdeveloped and developed countries."

According to the resolution, increasing cycling through greater road safety and bike promotion would assist achieve "sustainable development, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

The resolution expressly encourages member states to "pay special attention to cycling in cross-cutting development initiatives, including bicycle-sharing services," as well as "international, regional, national, and subnational development policies and programs" wherever possible.

Benefits of Cycling

Biking has several advantages. Cycling is good for your physical health in addition to being a practical method of transportation; it may help strengthen your legs and glutes, burn calories, and enhance your cardiovascular health while also allowing you to enjoy the outdoors. However, riding rather than driving can help you reduce your carbon footprint and save the environment.

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Harms of Traditional Transportation

Cities Need Better Planning to Accommodate the Growing Number of Cyclists — An image of a bike route in Houston, Texas. In this COVID-19 pandemic, people living in cities found that their usual transportation has been drastically reduced or disappeared, thus, an increasing number became cyclists. Pixabay

Transportation emits more than half of all carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, with the average American automobile generating a pound of CO2 each mile from gasoline combustion. By choosing to bike instead of driving, you will save fossil fuel and reduce the number of automobiles on the road. Fewer automobiles minimize traffic congestion and the demand for new parking lots and highways and increase the number of suitable places for public green areas. Bicycles can use existing infrastructure without putting undue strain on road development and parking places. They're also silent, so there's no honking or other distracting sounds.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 2.4 million premature deaths from outdoor air pollution might be averted each year. Emissions of black carbon, a component of particulate matter that is a recognized cause of respiratory and carcinogenic illnesses and a substantial contributor to global climate change, are particularly detrimental to human health.

Because of the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter, low-carbon transportation is becoming a more viable local investment, both in terms of decreasing emissions and thereby mitigating climate change and improving public health through improved air quality.

Pollution-Free Transpo

Biking is a pollution-free means of transportation that utilizes fewer fossil fuels. It reduces the need to manufacture, maintain, and dispose of automobiles. Bicycling saves road and residential space, allowing for less concrete and more greenery in metropolitan settings.

Green Transportation

Green transportation, also known as sustainable transportation, refers to means of transport that do not rely on finite natural resources such as fossil fuels. Renewable energy sources are used in these forms of transportation. They also have a common environmental effect, as these modes emit very little or no greenhouse gases.

Sustainable transportation systems contribute to the environmental, social, and economic well-being of the communities in which they operate. People swiftly take advantage of the opportunities given by improved mobility, with low-income households benefiting considerably from low-carbon transportation alternatives.