Fast-tracking Road Transport Decarbonisation through a New ‘International Sustainable Transport Alliance’

Clean and affordable public transportation can lower carbon emissions, improve urban air quality, and enable economic development. India’s G20 presidency can leverage the country’s National Electric Bus Programme to serve as a model that can be replicated across emerging market and developing economies.

This policy brief proposes the creation of a new institution, the International Sustainable Transport Alliance (ISTA). Building off India’s leadership, the creation of the ISTA can accelerate progress towards a low-carbon and climate resilient future by: raising national ambitions and sending clear market signals to industry players; providing policy visibility through the creation of policy roadmaps; developing pipelines through project preparation and demand aggregation; handling residual risk through blended finance mechanisms in order to unlock unprecedented private sector finance; and syndicating the resulting clean transportation investment opportunities to specific profiles of investors.