The Barcolana of Trieste is one of the most famous sailing regattas in the world and, since 2018, it has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the "Largest Sailing Race", thanks to the 2,689 boats registered in that edition.

Traditionally, the Barcolana stands as the second most significant event of the year in the regional capital, Friuli Venezia Giulia, surpassed only by the Assicurazioni Generali assembly, which, unsurprisingly, is the main sponsor of the event. Each year, the regatta draws an average of 25-30 thousand sailors and up to 400,000 visitors to Trieste. Given Trieste's population of approximately 200,000, it's easy to realise what an impact the event, which is spread over a total of ten days, can have on the city.

Reducing the 'carbon footprint' and impact of Barcolana is one of the goals the event has set itself for this 56th edition. The commitment also arises from technological progress: at the end of the 2023 edition, thanks to the partnership with Justonearth, Barcolana was able to obtain the value of certain parameters that, without a way to measure them, had always remained vague.

The start-up has provided Barcolana with a stable measurement criterion and a result for the number of people present during the event days. "Starting from that data and together with additional parameters that the start-up is able to calculate, we will be able to initiate a process of measuring the impact of the event and thus have, over time, data that will allow us to assess how to improve and make the event more sustainable" explained the president of the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano, Mitja Gialuz (in the picture below, En) who organises the event.

According to the data collected in the first days, littering has shown a continuous decline, averaging 2% compared to last year's values, while CO₂ emissions experienced maximum decreases of 8% but also days of slight increases in the annual comparison. For the 2024 edition, Gialuz further explains, "the target is to decrease emission data by at least 15% compared to the previous year. We must remember that Barcolana is a complex event and, in my view, like all similar events, sustainability should be evaluated in all aspects. From how you get to the Barcolana to its impact on the city, which is measured in different ways, including through the waste collection rate. We are fine-tuning and refining a number of indicators". 

Is recycling making a good contribution?

"It is. Over the years, we have addressed the challenge of managing separate waste collection during event days, acknowledging that we live in Trieste, a city where the rate of separate waste collection is fairly low, and considering that the Barcolana presents several challenges due to the presence of a 'temporary village' along the banks". 

Reaching the event is always complex. What solutions have you considered to avoid traffic?

We have worked to accurately calculate the flow of people, to try to close the Rive of Trieste (the streets along the coast of the city) and ensure access via electric buses provided by Trieste Trasporti. These measures have been implemented alongside promoting the use of the train as the primary mode of transportation into the city. Throughout the years, we were able to extend the event duration from 4-5 days to 10 days. We have a historical average of 400,000 attendees over the ten days". 

It seems to be clear that the aim is to make the Barcolana a driver of sustainability, correct?

"Absolutely, the aim is exactly that, to use Barcolana for public awareness. This includes the provision of 100% recyclable glasses, to avoid disposable ones and promote recycling, both for those on the boat and those participating from land. All this serves as an incentive to continue practising waste separation throughout the year. Moreover, we were the first regatta in the world to have an 'On-Board Ecological Officer'. This role must be filled on the entry form alongside the helmsman, to ensure sustainable practices, from purchasing supplies to waste separation. For these roles, we have created a set of rules to try to implement some good practices".

Transport is the world’s fastest growing source of energy-related carbon emissions. It accounted for 23% of energy-related GHG emissions in 2010, and, within that, urban transport was the largest single source. Depending on where you live, transport also contributes anywhere between 12-70% of urban air pollution, while at least 184,000 deathsin 2010 could be specifically attributed to air pollution from vehicles. Lengthy commutes also eat into productivity and leisure time – such as India’s average 1.5-hour daily commute. This comes with economic costs – in Beijing, motorized transport’s congestion, air pollution, crashes, and noise cost 7.5%-15% of its GDP.

Because of these profound effects on sustainability, health, economics and quality of life, improving urban transport can solve many problems all at the same time. Shifting a city’s dominant transport mode from private cars to mass transit can prevent sprawl and promote livable density, affecting land values and carbon footprints for decades to come. Being able to move efficiently and affordably enables equity and upward mobility by creating access to jobs and education. Switching to electric transport can enhance energy independence by reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels.

Beyond these environmental and social benefits, sustainable cities are a smart investment. Analysis by Vivid Economics and Stockholm Environmental Institute for the Coalition for Urban Transitions’ recent report Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity found that bundle of 16 low-carbon investments and measures in cities across the transport, buildings, materials and waste sectors could cut global urban emissions by 90% by 2050 and has present value of almost $24 trillion, equivalent to nearly one-third of the 2018 global GDP.

In particular, investments and measures in low-carbon passenger transport had returns that were miles ahead of other sectors, including buildings, material efficiency and waste. Three had particularly high returns: deploying more efficient and electric vehicles, implementing a mode shift to mass transit, and reducing demand for motorized travel.

Transitioning to a more efficient and electric vehicle fleet in cities worldwide would require a total incremental investment of $8.6 trillion – including additional costs of owning, operating and fueling electric vehicles and vehicles with higher fuel efficiency. This investment would pay for itself in eight years, with annual returns reaching $320 billion by 2030 and exceeding $1 trillion by 2050, for a net present value of $3.7 trillion. These returns are largely direct savings from reduced fuel use and avoided fuel costs, without considering the economic benefits of lower emissions and cleaner air, which would yield even higher economic returns. This investment could also support 3.6 million jobs by 2030 and avoid 0.71 GtCO2-e by 2050 (and much more with the use of clean electricity). In 2018, Shenzhen, China, became the first city in the world to electrify its entire public bus fleet, and their 16,000 e-buses are estimated to have reduced annual CO2 emissions by 440,000 tons and halved the fuel bill.

Together with poor air quality, traffic congestion is another obstacle on the road towards a sustainable economic growth.

However, while vehicle electrification and efficiency can reduce transport emissions, they will not solve congestion – they will just electrify it. Those investments and measures need to happen in tandem with a modal shift to mass transit in cities, which also offers even larger economic returns. A total investment of $4 trillion in public buses, trains and railway tracks would yield $1 trillion in annual benefits by 2030, with a net present value of $19.6 trillion – the largest of any investment modeled. It would pay for itself in just one year, with significant returns from savings in vehicle ownership, savings in operating and fuel costs from reduced vehicle use, along with travel time and congestion savings.

Shifting to mass transit could reduce carbon emissions by 0.73 GtCO2-e by 2050 and support nearly 12 million jobs by 2050. Bogotá’s TransMilenio bus rapid transit system and other public transport account for 37% of trips in the city, for just a fraction of the time, pollutants and emissions of a car-based network. Reducing motorized travel demand through more compact urban planning and promoting non-motorized transport delivers the second-largest net present value of all low carbon urban investments modeled: $10.25 trillion.
For a total incremental investment of $0.58 trillion (to provide e-cycles and cycling infrastructure), it could reduce carbon emissions by 0.56 GtCO2-e by 2050. It would yield $513 billion in annual returns by 2030, rising to $1.7 trillion by 2050 – paying for itself it in just one year. Similar to a modal shift to public transit, these returns would be realized from large savings from reduced vehicle ownership, operating and fuel costs, as well as travel time and congestion savings. This could create health benefits, too: Copenhagen’s cyclists request a collective 1.1 million fewer sick days than residents who don’t cycle and enjoy $1.16 in health benefits per kilometer traveled by bicycle instead of by car.

These three urban transport investments and measures – more efficient and electric vehicles, mode shift to mass transit, and reducing motorized travel demand – are deeply interconnected. For example, reducing the demand for motorized vehicle travel means a city could operate with fewer vehicles, which could lower the total investment needs for vehicle electrification and free funds for other much-needed public services. Taken together, investing in low-carbon transport in cities could yield economic returns of over $33 trillion by 2050, reduce carbon emissions by 3.29 GtCO2-e by 2050, and save hundreds of thousands of lives each year, while making cities more pleasant and livable. Together, this makes sustainable urban transport a great investment.

There are definitively good reasons to invest in sustainable urban mobility, but governments too will have to play their role in helping remove constraints. As Daniel Pulido, senior infrastructure specialist for the World Bank wrote, “while the need for sustainable urban mobility is greater than ever before, the available financing is nowhere near sufficient—and the financing gap only grows wider when you consider the need for climate change adaptation and mitigation.”