As cities across the Global South confront the urgent challenge of reducing carbon emissions, low-carbon mobility transitions have become central to planning and policy agendas. Yet these transitions are often framed in narrow, technocratic terms—focused primarily on electric vehicle adoption—while overlooking the complex social, economic, and political realities that shape informal transport systems.
This webinar explores the political economy of low-carbon transitions in popular transport systems that underpin everyday mobility across much of the Global South. It asks: Who drives the agenda for electric mobility? What forms of knowledge inform—or are excluded from—policy? And how can these transitions become more inclusive, context-sensitive, and just?
Bringing together researchers from diverse regions, the session will critically examine how popular transport systems can be transformed in ways that are both environmentally sustainable and socially equitable.