Cycling delivers on the Global Goals

Following a call from Ban Ki-Moon at the UN Secretary-General’s Assembly on Climate Change in September 2014, ECF & WCA committed to promoting the importance of cycling to achieve the new UN Sustainable Development Goals, with special attention to climate action.

This new publication, Cycling Delivers on the Global Goals, showcases the ambitions of 70 cities from around the world to increase their mode share of cycling, as well as highlighting the link between cycling and 11 of the 17 Global Goals. The publication refers explicitly to the recent ITDP study – “A Global High Shift Cycling Scenario” – shows, cycling can have a substantial positive impact on the world’s future. The scenario highlights how increasing bicycle and e-bike use would help: saving almost $6 trillion over the next 15 years, improving quality of life and a 7% decrease of urban transport CO2 emissions.

ECF & WCA stress that cycling is already delivering on the Global Goals worldwide, such as:

• Goal #3 – “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all” – by promoting physical activity cycling generates reduces heart diseases and other negative impacts of sedentary lifestyles
• Goal #8 – “promote sustained inclusive and sustainable economic growth” – The cycling sector creates more jobs per investment than any other mode of transport
• Goal #12 – “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns” – Cycling matches perfectly with the diversity and scale of regional and local economies. In many urban areas, 50% of all goods deliveries can be done by bicycle.

Additionally, the publication illustrates the lessons learnt from successful cycling cities, including starter, climber and champion cities ECF & WCA. President Manfred Neun: “Cycling a delivers directly to 11 of the 17 goals. Therefore  cycling needs investments and has to be integrated in all policies, if the world really wants to realize the Global Goals!”.

Dr. Bernhard Ensink, ECF and WCA Secretary-General, will take this message of the importance of cycling with him to Paris on the Train to Paris initiative November 28, 2015. As a partner of the Paris Process on Mobility and Climate, ECF and WCA are involved in the PPMC events on December 3^rd and Transport Day on December 6^th at COP21 in Paris.

Read Cycling Delivers on the Global Goals !

Access all the Global Goals content here: www.ecf.com/global-goals