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M-1A - Land-based Transport

Land-based transport plays a crucial role in global mobility, covering the movement of people and goods through road, rail, and pipeline systems. It is the dominant contributor to transport-related greenhouse gas emissions (approximately 12% of global CO₂-eq emissions), driven primarily by road vehicles such as cars, trucks, and buses. Mitigation efforts in this sub-sector focus on electrification, improving vehicle fuel efficiency, shifting towards public and active transport, and adopting low-carbon fuels. These strategies offer significant potential to reduce emissions, while addressing the growing demand for mobility, particularly in urban areas.

Mitigation Potential

TBD.

Mitigation Options

Chapter 10 (IPCC AR6 WG3 2022)1 discusses a number of mitigation options for the transport sector which are indexed in the table below. A small number of mitigations options only covered in Chapter 8 of the AR5 report (IPCC AR5 WG3 2014)2 are also included here for completeness.

Index Title Section(s) Sub-sector(s) TE(s)
M-1A.1 Changes in Urban Form AR6 10.2.1
M-1A.2 Active Transport Modes AR6 10.2.1 T-1A1a - Light Duty Vehicles T-1A1a-10,
T-1A1a-11
M-1A.3 Public Transit AR6 10.2.2
AR6 10.4.2		 T-1A1a - Light Duty Vehicles T-1A1a-6,
T-1A1a-12,
T-1A1a-15,
T-1A1a-16,
T-1A1a-17,
T-1A1a-18
M-1A.4 Dematerialisation of the Economy AR6 10.2.3
M-1A.5 Shared Mobility AR6 10.2.3 T-1A1a - Light Duty Vehicles T-1A1a-5
M-1A.6 Teleworking AR6 10.2.3 T-1A1a - Light Duty Vehicles T-1A1a-8,
T-1A1a-7
M-1A.7 Smart Mobility AR6 10.2.3
M-1A.8 Supply Chain Management AR6 Table 10.3 T-1B1a - Light-duty Trucks T-1B1a-5
T-1B1a-7
T-1B1a-9
T-1B1b - Heavy-duty Trucks T-1B1b-5
T-1B1b-8		 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
M-1A.9 E-commerce AR6 Table 10.3
M-1A.10 Vehicle Automation AR6 10.2.3
M-1A.11 Alternative Fuels for Vehicles AR6 10.3.1
AR6 10.4.3		 T-1A1a - Light Duty Vehicles T-1A1a-9,
T-1A1a-13,
T-1A1a-14,
T-1A1a-19,
T-1A1a-20,
T-1A1a-21
T-1A1b - 2/3 Wheel Vehicles T-1A1b-1 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
T-1A1c - Bus T-1A1c-1,
T-1A1c-2,
T-1A1c-3		 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
T-1B1a - Light-duty Trucks T-1B1a-1
T-1B1a-2
T-1B1a-3
T-1B1a-4		 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
T-1B1b - Heavy-duty Trucks T-1B1b-1
T-1B1b-2
T-1B1b-3
T-1B1b-4		 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
T-1A2 - Rail T-1A2-1,
T-1A2-3		 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
M-1A.12 Electric Technologies AR6 10.3.2 T-1A1a - Light Duty Vehicles T-1A1a-1
T-1A1b - 2/3 Wheel Vehicles T-1A1b-2 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
T-1B1a - Light-duty Trucks T-1B1a-6
T-1B1a-10		 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
T-1B1b - Heavy-duty Trucks T-1B1b-6 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
T-1A2 - Rail T-1A2-2 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
M-1A.13 Fuel Cell Technologies AR6 10.3.3 T-1A1a - Light Duty Vehicles T-1A1a-2
M-1A.14 Lightweighting of Vehicles AR6 Box 10.3
M-1A.15 Improved Energy Efficiency for Vehicles AR5 8.3.1 T-1A1a - Light Duty Vehicles T-1A1a-4
T-1B1a - Light-duty Trucks T-1B1a-8 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
T-1B1b - Heavy-duty Trucks T-1B1b-7 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠
M-1A.16 Eco-driving AR5 8.3.5 T-1A1a - Light Duty Vehicles T-1A1a-3

Emissions

We estimate that the land-based transport sub-sector was accountable for 12.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions for 2020 (5,919 MtCO₂-eq , see GHG Emissions). This can be further broken down into 0.5% (228 MtCO₂-eq) for rail transport and 12% (5,691 MtCO₂-eq) for road transport.

See E-1A3b - Road Transportation for a summary of IPCC guidelines for emission reporting.

  1. IPCC AR6 WG3. 2022. Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Edited by Priyadarshi R. Shukla, Jim Skea, Raphael Slade, Alaa Al Khourdajie, Renée van Diemen, David McCollum, Minal Pathak, et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157926. ↩

  2. IPCC AR5 WG3. 2014. Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change: Working Group III Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Edited by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Ottmar Edenhofer. Cambridge University Press. ↩

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