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January 2025
COP29 / Cycling
From Underdog to Mainstream on the Global Climate Agenda: Cycling at COP29
Our Strategic Advisor, Dagmar Köhler moderated a webinar hosted by Women in Cycling, an initiative by Cycling Industries Europe, European Cyclists’ Federation, Velokonzept, Mobycon, and CONEBI. During the webinar, CEO of the European Cyclists Federation Jill Warren shared her first-hand experience at COP29 in Baku and highlighted the progress made at COP29 in putting active travel on the transport decarbonisation agenda. Here’s a recap of the key highlights from the webinar.
The recent webinar titled “Cycling Towards the Paris Agreement” highlighted a monumental shift in how cycling has been viewed in global climate policy: While standard reporting about negotiations and agreements at COP29 in Baku left most people rather frustrated, cycling and active travel has been recognized as a crucial part of the solutions as never before.
Just three years ago at COP26 in Glasgow, the transport decarbonisation agenda focused almost exclusively on the electrification of vehicles. “At this year’s COP29, walking and cycling featured more prominently than ever before,” Jill Warren reported. Moderated by Dagmar Köhler and led by Jill Warren, the two elaborated on how cycling can reduce CO2 emissions. Jill shared behind-the-scenes insights into how walking and cycling gained prominence at COP29.
“We researched which countries include commitments to walking and/or cycling in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Only eight countries on earth have both cycling and walking policies and include these in their NDCs, and almost all of them are located in the Global South […] It’s maybe not the countries that people would be thinking of, so there is much more to do.”
For the first time at COP29, the framework of “avoid-shift-improve” no longer focuses on “improve” but also on “avoid” and “shift.” COP29 recognized that “electrification alone won’t meet the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.” While this fact may not be news for many of you reading this blog, this is a significant shift in global climate and transport policymaking.
However, challenges still remain. Jill Warren urged attendees to push for more substantial commitments from local and national governments to ensure the momentum for active transportation can be translated into tangible outcomes. She emphasized that “both bottom-up and top-down initiatives are needed” to effectively implement mobility strategies and achieve meaningful climate action.
Attendees left the webinar feeling inspired and armed with fresh ideas to advocate for walking and cycling in their communities. Following the session, a networking event allowed participants to share their thoughts and collaborate on new initiatives. If you are interested in joining future webinars, join the Women in Cycling LinkedIn group here. For those who missed the live session, a recording is available here.