Understand the Tool

Why was the NDC Transport Tracker created?

The NDC Transport Tracker was developed to fill a critical information gap on how countries integrate the transport sector into their climate commitments. While transport is one of the fastest-growing sources of emissions, early NDCs lacked consistent data and analysis on transport actions and targets. GIZ and SLOCAT recognised the need for a central, transparent, and comparable source of information that could support policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in understanding progress and identifying opportunities for more ambitious transport-related climate action.

How was the Tracker developed?

The NDC Transport Tracker builds upon two studies that were conducted by GIZ and SLOCAT in 2016 and 2017 respectively. With these studies, both, GIZ and SLOCAT, had the objective to to assess to which extent the importance of transport for climate action was reflected in the first round of NDCs.

These studies provided the necessary evidence to show the high relevance of transport in climate commitments by UNFCCC Parties. Towards the second round of NDCs, the NDC Transport Tracker combined the efforts by GIZ and SLOCAT and ensured the most comprehensive of NDCs and LTS. The NDC Transport Tracker was officially launched in May 2021.

What is the Tracker?

Transport is currently the sector with the second highest amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. Therefore, in order to stay on track and limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, strong climate ambition in transport is called for. The NDC Transport Tracker aims to shed light on the state of global efforts to decarbonize the transport sector by enabling to get a clear picture of the role of transport in national-level climate policies. The tool was developed by the SLOCAT Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). It is currently part of the Mobilize Net-Zero project that is implemented by the GIZ and financed by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

What does it track?

With the NDC Transport Tracker, you can keep track of all transport related targets, mitigation measures, adaptation measures as well as benefits in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long-term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategies (LTS) – the two major reporting mechanisms of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Targets express a goal or objective related to lowering GHG emissions or adapting to the impacts of climate change. Example: Reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Mitigation measures can be seen as actions or the pathway that leads to the goal of lowering GHG emissions. Example: Reduction of unnecessary travel through city planning.

Adaptation measures are policies or strategies that aim to reduce the risks and harms caused by climate change. Example: Use of building materials that withstand extreme climate events.

Benefits are statements link climate related transport action to other kinds of positive impacts. Example: Increased public transport will lead to increased mobility for low-income populations.

The targets, mitigation and adaptation measures, and benefits listed in the tracker have been further classified depending on characteristics like their scope or purpose. A more detailed definition of each category can be found in the glossary. The content of the Tracker is constantly being updated. The newest NDCs and LTS will be added once published on the submissions portal of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The original NDC can be found in the NDC Registry and the LTS are compiled in the UNFCCC LTS Portal.

How do I use the Tracker?

If you want to explore the data about transport action NDCs and LTS collected by the tracker, go to the section Explore the data. Here you have different ways to search for the information you are looking for:

1. Country Pages: If you want to find out more about the climate ambition in transport of a specific country, you can explore the content of their climate policy via the Country Pages. Here, you can search for the country you are interested in using the search bar or clicking through the different regions. Alongside general information like the country’s yearly GHG emissions, socioeconomic data and their memberships in climate alliances, each country page provides information on the policy documents reviewed by the tracker as well as the targets, mitigation and adaptation measures, and benefits that were identified. For every target, mitigation and adaptation measure, and benefit, you can find the corresponding document, page number and quote.
2. Dashboards: With the data from the NDC Transport Tracker, different interactive dashboards are being developed, that help you explore information on different topics in a visual and dynamic way. They are built to enable you to explore trends, compare countries and gain insights through interactive charts and maps. Each dashboard covers a different topic like the overall number of NDCs with and without transport measures submitted over time or the mapping of transport measures by country. Depending on the dashboard, different filtering and visualisation options like maps and charts are available.
3. Interactive Table: A third option to explore the data is through our interactive table. Here, you can explore the targets, mitigation and adaptation actions as well as benefits by clicking on the corresponding tab. For each topic, various filtering options are offered to enable you to quickly find and compare the information you are looking for. For detailed explanations of each option, take a look at the glossary. After choosing the filters you like, you can click on the button “Show results”. Depending on your selection, a table is generated, where all countries with relevant targets, measures or benefits are listed. You can hover over the different country names to see the exact quote for each target, measure or benefit as well as the document it comes from. If you click on a country, you will be redirected to its country page.
4. Excel Sheet: If you need the complete dataset for your work, you can download the Excel file here. In order to provide the most up-to-date results, the file is carefully updated according to submissions to the UNFCCC.

How should I cite the Tracker?

When referring to information from the NDC Transport Tracker, please use the following citation:

GIZ & SLOCAT. (2025). NDC Transport Tracker (vs 4.0). Available from: www.changing-transport.org/tracker.

When using the data, please note that the capture and classification of targets and measures involve a degree of subjectivity, and while a great effort has been made to ensure accuracy and completeness, certain limitations are inevitable. Therefore, we are always happy to hear your thoughts on the NDC Transport Tracker! So, if you would like to share questions or comments with us, please feel free to reach out to Belén Vásquez (maria.vasquez1@giz.de) from GIZ or Nikola Medimorec (nikola.medimorec@slocatpartnership.org) from SLOCAT.