The Report was presented today and broadcast on Kyoto Club YouTube channel.
In 2022, still a year of transition after the two-year period 2020-2021 of the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a recovery in urban mobility. Public transport is struggling to recover from the drastic reduction in passengers, following the health restrictions. The car has remained the protagonist of urban travel, not reaching the 2019 levels influenced by agile work and smart working. Similarly, for active mobility on foot and by bicycle, its growth in the coming years has yet to be verified.
In addition to the necessary objectives of reducing polluting gases, congestion, accidents and road deaths, there are also the decarbonisation objectives by 2030 which must be pursued urgently, towards zero-emission cities by 2050.
Also this year the Report "Mobility 2023", carried out by the Kyoto Club and the Atmospheric Pollution Institute of the National Research Council (CNR-IIA), analyzes the mobility and air quality data up to 2022 in the 14 Italian metropolitan cities.
MobilitAria 2023 addresses these issues in detail thanks to: an analysis and proposals by the Kyoto Club and CNR-IIA for sustainable mobility and decarbonisation towards zero-emission cities; a reflection on what the new European Directive on air quality will look like and how its application will impact large Italian cities; a look at the 2020-2030 goal towards zero-emission cities, together with an analysis of sustainable mobility in the 14 large cities, considering the objectives to be pursued, starting from today's situation; an analysis of the responses of PUMS (Urban Plans for Sustainable Mobility) for cities suitable for sustainable mobility. In addition to these analyses, the report contains five external contributions, prepared by experts, two of which offer a European focus, and further insights into safe and humane cities.
As in past editions, the study analyzes the air quality in 14 large Italian cities in the year 2022 and the trend of concentrations and exceedances in the period 2006-2022 and the concentrations of pollutants were analysed. Compared to 2021, in almost all cities, concentrations of nitrogen dioxide have increased (DO NOT2). In all the cities analysed, the average annual concentration of PM10 in the year 2022 it is below the limits and, compared to 2021, a very different situation has emerged: five cities in the south see the concentration values of the traffic stations going downhill and six cities in the north experiencing an ascent, Naples and Rome do not undergo changes. There are still several cities that exceed the daily PM35 limit more than 10 times in the space of a year.
On air quality, from the data analyzed in the Report, by comparing the average annual values recorded in metropolitan cities in 2022 with the values of the European Commission's 2030 objectives, it appears that almost all cities are exposed to concentrations of pollutants higher than those waited. These exceedances refer to the limits for NO2 nitrogen dioxide and PM10 and PM2,5 particulates, which differ greatly from the thresholds identified by the new European Directive and the limits recommended by the WHO. This makes us understand how cities will have to adopt more forward-looking and more ambitious transport decarbonisation policies for the improvement of air quality in the coming years. declares Francesco Petracchini, CNR-IIA Director.
The Report also shows that, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, the contribution of transport is significant.
Indeed, as can be seen from the analysis of the nine Italian cities candidate to achieve zero emissions by 2030, the overall average of the 9 cities in terms of emissions deriving from the transport sector is 23,5% of the total.
New in the 2023 Report is thesynthetic index of the distance of the 14 large cities examined, as they currently are and with the interventions being implemented, with respect to the objectives of decarbonisation and urban livability through the development of sustainable mobility by 2030. The analysis - which used a model from the European Environment Agency - examined the average of the values on five key indicators for each city on the current situation (public transport, active mobility on foot and by bicycle, shared mobility, of motorization and modal split) from which derives an overall assessment of the state of the situation. A number emerges for each city that demonstrates the distance between today's situation and 2030, which corresponds to the “Sustainable mobility deficit” of each of the 14 cities.
From this number, the "ranking" in increasing order of the Sustainable Mobility Deficit was then drawn up, in order to compare the situation of the various cities, both overall and divided among the five indicators: enhanced and non-polluting public transport, active mobility, shared mobility, motorization rate and modal split. We recall that among the objectives for 2030 there is that of halving the rate of vehicles in circulation for each city, growing and electrifying public transport, focusing on increasing cycle and pedestrian mobility, rebalancing the modal split towards sustainable systems.
From this ranking, as emerges from the synthetic index with respect to the European 2030 objective, we find Milano which with -32% is closest to the targets, contrary to Catania, which is the furthest with -76% and a serious deficit of sustainable mobility.
If we go into the merits of the various five indicators, it emerges that: Milan appears to be closest to the European target in terms of shared mobility, modal split and public transport, but it is still far away if we examine private motorization and active mobility. Catania is in last place in terms of shared mobility (-99%) and active mobility (-98%), as well as -77% in relation to public transport and -57% in terms of modal split.
Florence, Turin, Venice, Bologna, Rome and Naples they are in the first half of the ranking and are approaching the goal in terms of modal split, but are still a long way off in general for public transport, active mobility and shared mobility. Finally, Cagliari, Genoa, Messina, Bari, Palermo and Reggio Calabria they are all in the lower part of the ranking and are in the last places above all for public transport, shared mobility and active mobility, obviously each with its own specificities and weaknesses.
The detailed data is expressed in two graphs (see page Annex A to the press release below).
“The overall Sustainable Mobility Deficit by 2030 and the differences of the 14 cities that emerge from the Report are evident. Surely the PUMS and their implementation are the effective tool of the Administrations to grow sustainable mobility, he says Marco Talluri, Kyoto Club "Sustainable Mobility" Working Group. MobilitAria contains the Kyoto Club and CNR-IIA proposals for sustainable mobility and we support those cities that are striving to go in the right direction. Finally on the PNIEC (Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan) which - in line with the other environmental associations - must be updated and revised by the Government to adapt it to the targets of the Green Deal".
Another important topic that is explored in Mobilitaria 2023 is road safety and the sharing of public space, to which two of the five external insights are dedicated, supporting the ongoing campaign City 30km which he also joined Kyoto Club, together with the Legambiente, Fiab, Salvaciclisti, Amodo, Fondazione Scarponi, Asvis, Clean Cities Campaign associations.
Kyoto Club and CNR-IIA present MobilitAria 2023 just as we are witnessing the tragedy in Emilia-Romagna, which requires us to accelerate to reverse the current trend on the climate crisis. These extreme climatic events, increasingly frequent in our country, make us understand how urgent it is to start an energy transition towards zero emissions, by implementing PUMS and adaptation plans. This need clashes with the requests of the governors of the Po Valley regions, who are in Brussels today to oppose the new directive on air quality, thus keeping our country last on the list in Europe for the protection of health and the environment. He has declared Francesco Ferrante, Kyoto Club Vice President.
The Report shows that cities must do more, but certainly the Meloni Government, Minister Salvini and Parliament must act urgently on the Highway Code, Road Safety and Cities 30, must adopt the implementing decrees to allow new Low Emissions Linear zones and limited traffic zones: all measures necessary to support the efforts of cities for sustainable mobility, he concluded fervent. "