CHAPTER 3
Climate-responsive road asset management can help extend asset life and therefore benefit communities while minimizing the negative effects of climate change. Improving resilience usually includes strengthening infra- structure by building erosion and flood control measures. However, network assessments emphasize the need not only to implement resilience improvements, including drainage systems, but also to maintain them effectively. 20
expansion. As the global population grows, improving road quality and safety becomes an ever more pressing need: by 2030, annual passenger traffic is forecast to exceed 80 trillion passenger-kilometers — 50 percent more than 2015. Global freight volumes are projected to grow by 70 percent compared to 2015; and a further 1.2 billion cars are expected be on the road — double the total of 2015. 21 In light of the projected population growth and climate change impacts, and given the inadequate stock and quality of existing road infrastructure in developing coun- tries, investment needs are staggering. Encouragingly, road investment in those regions with the lowest road quality (Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean) has risen in the last 10 years (Figure 11).
INVESTMENT IN ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE
While many high-income countries enjoy world-class road infrastructure, much of the world still faces signif- icant challenges with road quality, maintenance and
Figure 11: Road Investment in percent of GDP
1,80
1,60
1,40
1,20
1,00
0,80
0,60
0,40
0,20
0
East Asia and Pacific Latin America and the Caribbean
South Asia Europe and Central Asia
North America Sub-Saharan Africa
Source: World Bank Group Global Prosperity Data 360
18 Libya Storm and Flooding 2023: Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment. United Nations Libya, United Nations Libya European Union 2024 19 This extraordinary weather event is estimated to occur in northern Libya once every 643 years. In a hypothetical world with a 1.2°C cooler climate, the event would be even rarer, with a return period of 1,900 years. (Source: https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/106501/14/scientific%20 report%20-%20Mediterranean%20floods.pdf) 20 How road asset management can deliver climate resilience. Asian Develop- ment Bank 2023.
21 Global Mobility report 2017
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