30 July 2015: The UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport has expressed support for establishing a global infrastructure forum to help improve coordination among infrastructure initiatives, multilateral and national development banks, UN agencies, national institutions, development partners and the private sector. In a position paper, the Group highlights the need for international cooperation to address issues related to transport and transit corridors as an important element of sustainable development, and to mobilize financing to this end.
The paper, which was published to coincide with the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3), states that solutions require a shift towards a “mobility paradigm” focused on people, environment and the climate, rather than on individual vehicle use, and reducing fossil fuel consumption and dependency in transport systems and eliminating subsidies. According to the Group, investments in sustainable transport must be fostered by the public sector, including through taxes, transport charges and user fees. It also calls for enhancing the capacity of cities to generate and direct financial resources for sustainable transport. The paper welcomes efforts made by the multilateral development banks (MDBs) to meet their US$175 billion pledge to fund more safe and sustainable transport over the 2012-22 period, but notes that financing from climate funds has been limited, including from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The Advisory Group calls for other other dedicated financing mechanisms to ensure action on road safety, noting that more than 1.5 million people lose their lives every year due to traffic accidents and transport-induced air pollution, 92% of which occurs in developing countries.
In June 2015, during a meeting in Milan, Italy, the Advisory Group agreed to take measures to hasten a shift toward safer, healthier, more effective, efficient and sustainable transport systems, including by developing recommendations for policymakers. The Group also plans to, in 2016: convene the first international conference on sustainable transport in 2016, and produce a first global sustainable transport outlook report addressing all modes of transport, as well as road safety, traffic congestion, climate impacts, health issues and clean fuels.
A Technical Working Group (TWG) provides technical and analytical inputs to the Advisory Group. Thus far, the TWG has prepared issue briefs on: financing sustainable transport; urbanization, management and operations; inter/intra-city and multi-modal interfacing; sustainable transport technology and innovation; and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the post-2015 development framework.
The Group, which was established in 2014 for a period of three years to provide sustainable transport recommendations at the global, national, local and sectoral levels, works with stakeholders to promote sustainable transport systems and their integration into development strategies and policies. The transport sector is responsible for nearly 25% of all global energy-related emissions, and transportation has been the largest energy-consuming sector in 40% of countries. [UN Press Release on Position Paper] [Position Paper on Financing Sustainable Transport] [Advisory Group Website] [Issue Briefs] [UN Press Release on Advisory Group’s June Meeting]