The ATO green roads profiles present country-level perspectives on how 35 Asia-Pacific economies are addressing the development and management of sustainable eco-friendly roads. Drawing from diverse datasets and policy documents, the profiles highlight practices and measures that contribute to greener transport infrastructure.

Developed by the Asian Transport Observatory (ATO) in partnership with the International Road Federation (IRF), the profiles are designed to complement the Green Roads Toolkit. The toolkit provides a practical reference for integrating good practices across nine dimensions:

• Decarbonization
• Climate resilience
• Water and land management
• Pollution reduction
• Conserving biodiversity
• Responsible sourcing of materials
• Improving quality of life
• Disaster preparedness
• Fostering inclusive growth

This 2025 edition builds on earlier work to provide a comprehensive resource for guiding the planning, development, construction, and management of greener, more sustainable roads.

Three million people spread across roughly 28,000 square kilometers in a landlocked terrain depend on an overwhelmingly local road network. Of the 27,500 kilometers of pavement crisscrossing Armenia, 92% serve rural and local needs; only 3% are classified as motorways or primary highways. This infrastructure density is 966 meters per square kilometer. Motorization is accelerating. With 221 vehicles per thousand people, Armenia still trails the Asia-Pacific average of 317, but the gap is closing. Since 2000, vehicle ownership has ticked upward, with users now commanding a fleet in which light-duty vehicles dominate the count, yet heavy-duty vehicles dictate the environmental toll.

Since 2000, economy-wide emissions grew at a manageable 2.6% annually. Road transport emissions, however, increased by 6.0%. The sector now accounts for all transport emissions and nearly a quarter of the entire economy's greenhouse gas output. According to the GAINS model, 87% of road transport CO2 comes from heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs). This is mainly due to the high distance to ports. While the economy's emissions intensity has improved drastically—reducing from 308 grams of CO2e per USD in 1990 to just 34 today—the absolute load continues to rise.

A distinct opportunity lies dormant in the power grid. Armenia's electricity is remarkably low-carbon, with a grid emission factor of 244 gCO2 per kWh, less than half the Asia-Pacific average of 559. The energy is ready for a transition, even if the fleet is not. Electric vehicle imports have reached $214 million over the last decade, now accounting for 16% of total vehicle imports by value. Yet, this influx is skewed; 86% of these are light-duty vehicles. The heavy trucks that choke the air and drive the emissions inventory remain largely untouched by electrification.

The road is also a vector for vulnerability. Climate stress is practically a line item in the national budget. Armenia faces average annual losses of $8.0 million to transport infrastructure, a figure that bridges and tunnels bear disproportionately. Under a 4.5-degree warming scenario, extreme precipitation will threaten 4% of road assets. The threat is not just to the road, but from it. Biodiversity suffers a heavy intrusion. Twenty-seven of Armenia's 28 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are dissected by infrastructure, equivalent to 359 meters of road per thousand square kilometers of protected land—four times the Asia-Pacific average.

Safety has improved, but at a slow pace. In Armenia, road crash fatalities decreased by approximately -5.4% per year between 2016 and 2021. However, this is not enough to reach the 2030 target to halve the fatalities by 2030. In 2021 alone, the roads claimed 379 lives. Beyond crashes, the air itself takes a heavy toll. Pollution from tailpipe emissions and dust adds to a health burden costing the economy about $4.5 billion each year—a staggering 11% of GDP. Transport makes up 6.8% of household spending in Armenia.

In urban centers, the car dictates movement; only 45% of city dwellers live safely away from highway pollution, and mass transit access reaches acceptable levels in only a third of agglomerations. Meanwhile, rural isolation persists, with 43,000 people cut off from all-season roads, leaving them without access to markets and healthcare.

Armenia stands at an uncertain junction. It possesses a low-carbon grid and a road network that reaches deep into its rural heartland. Yet, the current trajectory is one of rising emissions driven by freight, high external costs from crashes and congestion, and significant ecological fragmentation.

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