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• Introduction
• Contents List
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Introduction to WCC Mobility Report

At the same time, the damage caused by mobility is becoming more and more obvious. The “mobilization” of humankind is taking its toll on present and future generations .

Motorized individual traffic - represented by the automobile and the airplane - is increasingly pushing aside traditional means of transport and proven ways of traffic organization in the North and the South.

A growing number of traffic planners in the industrial nations and the so-called developing world are attempting to break the automobile’s pre-dominance by developing alternatives to private car ownership. Traffic planners in the South have the opportunity to avoid mistakes the industrialized countries have already commit-ted and to develop in their countries alternative models of traffic and trans-port organisation on the basis of sustainability.

The main thesis of this report is that we urgently need to rethink mobility in terms of sustainability for social, economic, and ecological reasons.

To date, the themes of transport and mobility have not achieved the attention that issues such as armament, nuclear energy, and social justice between the North and the South have had and still have. Yet, the way mobility is organized exerts a deep influence on societies. Today we are setting the course for tomorrow. For this reason it is important to embark as soon as possible on new paths of development. For a long time transport has not been an issue for the churches. Christians have always been quite prepared to make use of new technologies. It was only when the negative impacts of growing mobility became more apparent that critical questions began to arise.

The World Council of Churches became particularly aware of the dangers of modern mobility while dealing with the consequences of climate change. No one can call for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions without questioning traffic organization as it is today.

The conclusion is inescapable: Even if considering mobility solely in the context of climate change, today’s practice and future development of mobility are by no means sustainable.

The World Council of Churches expressed its opinion on the climate issue in a com-prehensive study a few years ago (1994).
( 1 ) The findings of the World Council of Churches were then expanded during another international conference.
( 2 ) This paper is a complement to the two papers resulting from these two meetings; it is an attempt to take up the issue of sustainability of today’s mobility and to deal with it in the perspective of Christian responsibility.

The paper is addressed to the churches. It is not to be understood as the last word on the subject but rather as an impetus. The World Council of Churches hopes that the member churches will discuss it within the context of their societies - for these issues vary from country to country. The World Council of Churches invites the member churches to react and comment on the findings and conclusions of this paper.

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Contents Page

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Current Development of Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
A Multifaceted Global Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Criteria to Raise Awareness and to Find Possible Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Rethinking Transportation - Implications for Society, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Politics and the Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Traffic Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Avoidance of Mobility and Shift to other Modes of Transport . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Technological Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
True Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Price Increases, Taxes and Similar Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Automobile Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Emphasizing the Region as Expanded Living Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Urban and Regional Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Church and Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Reading the Full Report

The full text of the World Council of Churches consulation document on Mobility is available on the web:

Mobility - Prospects of Sustainable Mobility

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