Skip to main content

Green Transport

 

With the world making a transition to greener energy alternatives, global transport is no exception. If we are going to successfully tackle the problems of poor air quality and air pollution, then adapting to cleaner energy as regards transportation cannot be however overemphasized.

First of all, there is a need to redesign our urban cities and centers. Having an urban paradigm shift as regards urban and regional planning is what we need right now, to ensure that our cities are planned in such a way that we do not need to commute unnecessarily to meet our immediate and domestic needs. Residential housing, offices, schools, libraries, shopping malls, convenience stores, churches; post offices etc., can be built in such a way,  that we can reach these places within walking distances. The need to drive or travel would only be necessary when going on long trips. 

Urban shift is a conference being organized by the Global Environment Facility on September 21, 2021, which has been designed to address the issues of sustainable urban planning and housing. I believe this looming concept of green transport which has slowly begun to reckon with stakeholders in the environment, will be at forefront of matters discussed in relation to environmental sustainability.

Secondly, the complete switch to hybrid and electric cars has to take immediate effect. Cars dependent on fossil fuels account for a quarter of air pollution experienced globally today. And this is responsible for the rising cases of asthma and other respiratory related diseases. Hybrid or electric cars pollute far less than petrol cars. It is mandatory that the transition to this kind of transport takes place with immediate effect. For example, Chinese companies have already committed to zero emission vehicles fleet by 2025. In Colombia, the city of Monteria has already built 42km of bike  lanes and has a thriving public bike rental network with 11,000 users! Also, railway tracks can be electrified instead of the continuous dependence on diesel trains. There’s actually no time left for new polluting vehicles to keep rolling out of our factories any longer.

The United Nations is at the forefront of this unique development as they are planning a sustainable transport conference, next month,  October in Beijing, China.  The event will bring together major players in the transport industry as they will be focusing on how to plan and develop transport systems that work which will boost economic growth, reduce inequalities and  improve the environment for everyone. 

We must all join hands to ensure that these plans and policies already in the pipeline will find expression and come to fruition even on our environmental watch. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HYDROPOWER!

Can there be a green approach to this age old phenomenon which has powered our homes and businesses, and solved our energy quests and problems for decades?  Hydropower has encouraged the significant expansion of dams which has damaged and divided ecosystems according to a report from the ' Green New Deal' proposition for Europe by Diem 25(Democracy for Europe Movement 2025).                                                                                                       Another report shows that in the Balkans, some of the wildest rivers in Europe, and also a hot spot for fresh water biodiversity are under threat from around 2800 already planned hydropower plants projected to be constructed over the next few years. So bac...
Post a Comment
Read more

Oceans: Our Natural Carbon Sinks

  June 8 is World Oceans Day. This is the day that the United Nations has set aside every year to convey the importance of our oceans. It is important that we observe these days with utmost precision and care, and not just think that these are just days that the organization chooses to use, so they can  keep up with the ceremony of things or just keep busy. No! They are there,  as a reminder of our duty and responsibility towards our environment,  and the earth in general.  It is vital that we follow and do our own little bit to proffer solutions to our dying planet. And if everyone contributes their own quota to the sustainability of the environment, then we would have gone a long way in ameliorating the problems we have created by our own actions and leave at least a better place for posterity. Oceans are natural carbon sinks that grab carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to use in photosynthesis by plants under the sea. These are plankton, corals, algae and oth...
Post a Comment
Read more

#Climate Action

  Climate can be defined as the atmospheric conditions of a place over a particular period of time. If conditions are altered even in the slightest bit, there is climate change. Most recently, in different parts of the world, climate change has become an increasingly growing problem, stemming largely from man’s quest to solve his energy problem and answering that quest by employing the use of three primary fossil fuel resources namely: coal, petroleum crude oil and gas.  Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel resource in the United States, China and major parts of Africa. As oil prices have   plummeted and the availability of oil is slowly declining, the use of coal again is most likely going to increase if the United Nations Decade On Ecosystem Restoration strategy isn’t strictly adhered to especially in oil producing nations of the world. And this has tremendous environmental problems and consequences caused by the sulfur content of coal and not to mention the release of...
Post a Comment
Read more