Making policy without following the science is like building a house without foundation.
As Juan Carlos Muñoz has alluded to in a recent interview, not listening to scientists would even be irresponsible. In a country like Chile, where earthquakes are part of life, no professional builds a house without thinking about the ground beneath it. You study the soil, you strategically design the foundation, keep it flexible and you follow the code because you know that what you build must stand through the tremors to come.
The same is true for responsibly making transport policy in times of climate change. Especially in the Global South, policy makers are often confronted with data scarcity to build their decisions upon. Even though after the Covid-19 pandemic, scholars regularly highlighted the need for evidence-based transport policy making in literature, the current backlash that especially climate scientists are facing, endangers the application of this approach. Although the lack of adequate data or insufficient quality is a challenge, many governments have started to address these issues and there are resources available that can help you improve your evidence base in order to take informed decisions.
This is not about ideology, this is science. Here, we are simply listening to our scientists, who tell us that as carbon emissions linked to climate change increase.
Juan Carlos Muñoz
Just as Chileans follow scientific guidance to build safely and respond to earthquakes, we must also listen to scientists to plan for climate change. The difference is that, unlike seismic events, climate change cannot be faced alone, as it requires global responsibility and collective action.
While science-based policy making and evidence-based policy making are often used interchangeably, they can be distinguished. In simple terms, while for science-based policy making, the starting point is scientific knowledge and models as a foundation, evidence-based policy often uses systematically collected and analysed data from the real world as a basis. This can stem from pilot projects, policy evaluations or surveys, among many others. When in international climate negotiations countries “commit to accelerate action in this critical decade on the basis of the best available science, […]”, they promise that science will constitute a base for their policy making.
Making policy in the field of transport and climate change is multifaceted by default. On the one hand, transport activity as it can be observed nowadays on our streets, rail- and waterways are the baseline, but to create a transport system that is fit for the needs of tomorrow, more information that that is required. To inform how tomorrow’s transport system could look like, and which impacts policies would have on it, having solid evidence is a precondition. In the case of transport models for instance, researchers craft carefully calibrated assumptions that underly the calculations to enable policy makers to understand how people and goods move around and what might happen if certain policies, infrastructure projects, or regulations are introduced.
As explained earlier, evidence-based policy aims to use rigorous empirical research to inform decisions rather than relying on political preference, ideology, or untested assumptions. In transport, policymaking can build upon different kinds of data, such as on travel demand and behaviour, on infrastructure and services, road safety, climate and environmental impacts or economic and social indicators. In order to make policies that are effective, equitable, and sustainable, the relevant data should be analysed and understood before drafting the policy and mechanisms for review, evaluation and adjustment are ideally part of the policy.
1. Build a solid foundation: Data-Driven Climate Policy in Vietnam & Kenya
As part of the TraCS project which was funded by the International Climate Initiative, the governments in Kenya and Vietnam collaborated with GIZ to build greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories for their transport sectors. Better data about the current GHG emissions from the transport sector enabled them to discuss policy options that would effectively tackle the identified problem areas.
2. Check in you are on track: Monitoring, Reporting, Verification
Even though your policy might be well-conceived, unexpected outcomes can always occur. Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) is a way to understand whether your system is on track and whether the impacts you expected to achieve are actually taking place. On international level, the Enhanced Transparency Framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change sets the rules how reporting on countries efforts to mitigate and adopt to climate change are progressing. High quality sectoral data is therefore not only key to make domestic policy, but also to be able to comply with the rules of the Paris Agreement.
Our free self-paced online course “Transport Data: From MRV to Action” is a tool that helps policy makers to design and implement MRV systems for transport sector. 14 case studies and 6 lectures from Latin America, Asia and Africa can help you to better understand an existing or even to start developing your own system.
3. You cannot know it all: broaden your knowledge base
Rather than relying on a single source for understanding the problem you are facing, involving a broad range of stakeholders into the process can enhance data quality and quantity and enrich your policy making process. In many countries, consultations with stakeholders are a standard step to follow, but there are some groups that are often overlooked. To leave no one behind, using gender-disaggregated data and empowering women decisionmakers are key objectives to follow. Similarly, local solutions can provide input for higher levels or even be scaled. Lastly, in many countries, thinktanks and civil society organizations as well as universities are still not on every policy maker’s radar. To bring them together and to facilitate exchange on critical issues surrounding sustainable mobility in Africa is an objective of the Rethinking Transport project – recognizing their crucial role in shaping the transition and in broadening the knowledge base available for policy makers.
Transport policy today must operate at the nexus of many different policy fields. In times of climate change, climate action in transport is a issue that concerns all countries. To deliver on our goals and to make a transport policy that will withstand the next political earthquake, building strong partnerships while listening to the science and following cues gained from evidence is essential.
Watch the whole interview with Minister Muñoz: Driving Sustainability in Transport: Chile’s Vision – Interview with Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz – YouTube
The Mobilize Net Zero project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and is funded through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
