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 Connectivity Paradox Sri Lanka possesses a terrestrial connectivity footprint that is nothing short of remarkable. With a road density of 1,670 meters per square kilometer in 2024, the island's infrastructure penetration is exceptional for its size, weaving a 103,300-kilometer web that links 89% of its network to local and rural communities. While the sheer scale of the network drives the economy, it also locks the country into a high-carbon, high-risk trajectory that threatens both fiscal stability and environmental integrity.

The current system is heavily motorized—345 vehicles per thousand population, surpassing the Asia-Pacific average of 317—but it is surprisingly inefficient. The fleet is dominated by two-wheelers (53%) and three-wheelers (17%), creating a chaotic mix of traffic that serves as the primary engine for the country's 10.4 million tonnes of road transport GHG emissions. These emissions now account for a 98% of the total transport sector's carbon output and 28% of economy-wide emissions. While emissions intensity per unit of GDP has improved by 1.8% annually since 2015, this pace lags significantly behind the South Asian average of 5.5%, signaling a structural stagnation in decarbonization efforts.

The physical resilience of Sri Lanka's transport backbone is brittle. In a 4.5-degree warming scenario, over 63% of road and rail assets would be exposed to frequent and extreme precipitation. The financial implications are already visible: the country faces average annual losses of $24.1 million to transport infrastructure, with roads absorbing 52% of this damage. Bridges and tunnels are disproportionate choke points, incurring 2.6% of losses despite comprising just 0.2% of the infrastructure stock.

This vulnerability is compounded by the "hidden" subsidies that distort the market. While direct fossil fuel subsidies for transport have fallen from $1.1 billion (2010-2015) to $794 million (2016-2023), the external costs society pays are colossal. Road crashes alone account for 88% of these external costs, a grim statistic reinforced by the loss of 2,513 lives in 2021. The World Bank estimates the annual cost of health damages from PM2.5 exposure—of which road transport is a significant contributor—at $24 billion, or roughly 8% of GDP.

Sri Lanka sits on a material stock of 465.6 million tonnes of road infrastructure, a massive sunk cost in carbon and minerals. Maintaining and expanding this requires an additional 9.8 million tonnes of material annually, embodying 403,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent before a single vehicle drives on the surface.

Furthermore, the current network alignment is in direct conflict with the island's ecological wealth. Research indicates that 51 of Sri Lanka's 70 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) have road infrastructure cutting through them. This intrusion density—169 meters of road per thousand square kilometers of KBA—is nearly double the South Asian average. Recent UNEP mapping suggests that just four specific road projects, totaling 74 kilometers, threaten over 145,000 tonnes of carbon stock and critical nitrogen retention systems.

Despite the high road density, 430,000 rural residents remain cut off from all-season roads, leaving them isolated from healthcare, education, and markets. Conversely, in urban areas, access does not equate to mobility. In 63% of Sri Lanka's cities, only two out of ten residents have convenient access to public transport, and only 6% of urban agglomerations offer transit access to half their population. The result is a forced reliance on private vehicles that drains household budgets—transport costs consumed 21.1% of household expenditure in 2021.

The uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) is accelerating, with EVs representing 46% of total road vehicle imports by value in 2024. Yet, the composition of these imports—71% light-duty vehicles and only 2% buses—suggests a transition focused on the wealthy rather than the masses. Sri Lanka scores a decent 64/100 on UNEP's E-mobility Readiness Index, but the lag in policy (score 15) and finance (score 15) threatens to stall momentum.

The path forward requires a systemic shift from expansion to modernization. The infrastructure is already there; the challenge now is to make it work for the future.

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