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.

The Marshall Islands spans about 180 square kilometers of fragmented land, creating a unique connectivity paradox: a limited geography supporting a surprisingly dense transport network. The road system, estimated at around 1.7 million tonnes of materials, has grown to 238 kilometers by 2024. About 80% of these are local and rural roads, leading to an infrastructure density of 1,320 meters per square kilometer.

Despite the topographical limitations, the appetite for mobility is pronounced. Motorization rates have increased from 218 vehicles per thousand population in 2000 to 432 in 2024, a figure that now noticeably exceeds the broader Asia-Pacific average of 317 . The composition of this fleet is heavily skewed toward private vehicles, with two-wheelers accounting for 77% of road users, while light duty vehicles (LDVs) comprise 20% . Public transport presence is negligible, with buses making up only 1% of the fleet.

The transition toward low-carbon mobility remains in a nascent, uneven phase. While the aggregate value of electric vehicle (EV) imports totaled 790 thousand USD between 2015 and 2024, these inflows represent a mere 1% of the country’s total road vehicle imports . A structural mismatch exists in this transition: while the incumbent fleet is dominated by two-wheelers, 87% of EV imports are LDVs, with electric two-wheelers comprising just 13% . Institutional readiness for this shift lags behind technological availability. The UNEP E-mobility Readiness Index assigns the Marshall Islands a score of 42 out of 100 . While market readiness scores an 8, policy frameworks (score: 5) and energy infrastructure (score: 21) remain critical bottlenecks preventing widespread uptake.

The construction and maintenance of this network exact a measurable environmental toll. Annual expansion and maintenance require an estimated 46 thousand tonnes of material, embodying approximately 1 thousand tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions per year . Beyond carbon, the linear infrastructure exerts pressure on the archipelago’s fragile biosphere.

Although 52% of the territory remains forested, biodiversity encroachment is a growing concern . Analysis of the country’s ten Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) reveals that road infrastructure dissects two of them . This intrusion amounts to 75 meters of road per thousand square kilometers of KBA—a density nearly triple that of the Pacific Islands average (25) and comparable to the industrialized Asia-Pacific average (88).

Situated on the frontlines of the climate crisis, the Marshall Islands’ road network faces existential threats from extreme weather. The country ranks 182nd out of 208 nations in the National Road Vulnerability Index, a metric assessing network criticality during natural hazard disruptions . The historical record underscores this fragility: since 2000, the islands have weathered eight recorded natural disasters, equally split between storms and flooding.

Social equity issues persist within this vulnerability profile. Approximately 2,000 rural residents remain severed from all-season roads (defined as being within 2 kilometers), a gap that effectively isolates these communities from healthcare, education, and markets while hampering disaster recovery . Furthermore, accessibility modeling indicates that nearly 100% of the population requires more than 30 minutes to access major urban centers, highlighting inefficiencies in network fluidity despite the small land area.

The Marshall Islands’ road transport sector is characterized by a high-density, two-wheeler-dominant network that is expanding faster than it is decarbonizing. The sector faces a dual challenge: a slow penetration of electric mobility technologies and acute vulnerability to climate-induced infrastructure loss.

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