28 November 2018: In advance of the Katowice Climate Change Conference, Poland’s Secretary of State at the Ministry of the Environment and President of the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the UNFCCC, Michal Kurtyka, and the UK Minister for Business and Industry, Richard Harrington, presented an initiative for electromobility and development of zero emission transport.

The partners proposed a partnership and an annual forum that would underline how a transition to clean transport can provide cleaner air, innovative industry and a safe and stable climate.

According to the UNFCCC, the transportation sector has had the fastest emissions growth of any sector over the last 50 years. The transportation sector is responsible for 23 percent of global energy-related carbon emissions, and represents a major source of air pollution.

COP 24 is a platform to promote and recognize e-mobility as an essential part of the solution to climate change.

Kurtyka said the Polish COP 24 Presidency proposes “e-mobility as one of the main topics of this year’s COP.” He explained that Poland aims to contribute to global climate policy and galvanize global trends towards electromobility through the Partnership and its annual forum. He highlighted Poland’s experience in implementing legislation and projects on electromobility, including the ‘Zero Emission Urban Bus System’ (ZeEUS). Kurtyka stressed that Poland wants e-mobility actions “to become an impulse towards ensuring universal opportunities to live in clean, environmentally friendly cities.” Harrington said the UK and Poland “are calling on all countries to renew their efforts to accelerate the transition to low-emission vehicles to create a cleaner, greener legacy for future generations.”

The ‘Driving Change Together Partnership,’ or ‘Katowice Partnership for E-Mobility,’ is a dedicated framework for encouraging technological and organizational changes in the sector to further develop zero-emission transport. A proposal on the Partnership stresses that transport must be decarbonized to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, and underlines the potential economic, health and environmental benefits of a transition to a low-carbon economy, in particular the development and deployment of zero-emission vehicles. The proposal recognizes initiatives committed to achieving the goal of sustainable transport and development of e-mobility, and calls on Parties and non-Party stakeholders to use COP 24 as a platform to “promote and recognize e-mobility as an essential part of the solution to climate change.” The proposal further declares an intent to work together to ensure that e-mobility and the UNFCCC process “complement and enhance each other” and share experience and expertise towards e-mobility through capacity building and peer-to-peer cooperation.

Through the Partnership, supported by an annual forum, the Polish COP 24 Presidency will create a network of partnerships between regional and national governments, cities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to build and share knowledge of electromobility and accelerate a “transport e-mobility revolution” at international and local levels. [COP 24 Press Release] [Driving Change Together Partnership Document] [UNFCC Press Release on Transport] [Climate Action News Story on Initiative]