World Car-Free Day 2025: Observed on 22nd September to Promote Sustainable Transport.

World Car-Free Day, celebrated globally on 22nd September, encourages people to avoid using cars for a day to reduce air pollution and promote eco-friendly transport.

      - The concept began during the 1973 oil crisis and gained momentum after the 1994 "Accessible Cities" conference in Toledo, Spain, leading to the formation of the World Car Free Days Consortium in 1995.

      - Britain launched the first national-level car-free campaign in 1997 via the Environmental Transport Association (ETA). Europe hosted the first international Car-Free Day in 1999 under the EU's "In Town Without My Car" campaign, which evolved into European Mobility Week (September 16–22).

      - September 22 aligns with the EU-sponsored European Mobility Week, emphasizing sustainable mobility and awareness of vehicle pollution.

Main Point :-   (i) Globally, transport is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, with 1.47 billion cars emitting ~3.5 gigatonnes (Gt) CO2/year, about 10% of fossil-fuel CO2 and 20% of total GHGs.

      (ii) Road vehicles also cause around 1.19 million deaths and 50 million injuries annually, highlighting the need to reduce car dependence.

(iii) In India, with the 3rd largest road network, there are 21 crore two-wheelers and 7 crore four-wheelers. Annual car sales are projected to rise from 4.5 million to 10.5 million by 2030, contributing 8% of India’s total GHGs (~290 Gg PM2.5/year).