18 July 2011
ESCWA, UNECE Meeting Addresses Transport Emissions Reductions
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The expert meeting on “Promoting Emissions Reductions in the Transport Sector” highlighted the main regional and global success stories in emission reduction and mitigation efforts, in particular European experiences and lessons learned in this field.

5 July 2011: A meeting of regional and international experts on “Promoting Emissions Reductions in the Transport Sector” was convened by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Africa (ESCWA) and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Gas Centre from 5-6 July 2011, in Beirut, Lebanon, to discuss the transport sector’s impact on climate change.

The two-day meeting highlighted the main regional and global success stories in emission reduction and mitigation efforts, in particular European experiences and lessons learned in this field.

UNECE Gas Center Director Valerie Ducrot stressed the projected growing demand for gas, adding that the meeting provides experts the opportunity to explore public and private partnerships in the transportation sector for further carbon emission reductions. Abbas Ali Naqi, General Secretary of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), underscored that the global transport sector represents 60% of the daily oil use, and that the Arab region has witnessed a 4% increase in the number of vehicles per year between 1997 and 2008. He indicated that Arab countries, especially oil producing ones, have plans for effective transport networks and increases in the share of the public transport sector. Anhar Hegazi, ESCWA Deputy Executive Secretary, noted that ESCWA is preparing a study on “Policies and Measures to Promote Sustainable Use of Energy in the Transport Sector in the ESCWA Region.” [ESCWA Press Release]

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