UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has established a High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport, announcing the Group's membership on 8 August 2014.
The Group aims to promote accelerated implementation of sustainable transport, in line with objectives to address climate change, protect the global environment and ecosystems and promote inclusive and equitable growth and social development, according to a press release from the Secretary-General.
8 August 2014: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has established a High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport, announcing the Group’s membership on 8 August 2014. The Group aims to promote accelerated implementation of sustainable transport, in line with objectives to address climate change, protect the global environment and ecosystems and promote inclusive and equitable growth and social development.
Ban’s establishment of the Group is part of broader efforts to advance climate action and implement his Five-Year Action Agenda, which includes transport as one of six building blocks for sustainable development. In a letter to the Group’s members, Ban said he looked forward to working with them “to help fight poverty and climate change and contribute to future sustainable development goals (SDGs) by advancing sustainable transport across the world.”
The Group will promote sustainable transport at global, national, local and sector levels as well as the integration of sustainable transport systems into development policies and strategies, including on climate action and the post-2015 development agenda. The Group is tasked with, inter alia: developing a Global Transport Outlook Report with analysis and recommendations on sustainable transport by 2015; providing a global message and recommendations on sustainable transport, including on multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainable transport; and mobilizing sustainable transport action and initiatives among Member States, development finance institutions, bilateral development partners, land-use planners, transport providers and urban authorities.
Ban established the Advisory Group for a period of three years. The Group will hold its first meeting in the Fall of 2014, and is expected to submit a progress report to the UN Secretary-General in the second half of 2015.
Appointed as co-chairs are: Olof Persson, Chief Executive Officer, the Volvo Group; and Carolina Tohá, Mayor of Santiago, Chile. The group includes ten additional members from around the world. [UN Press Release] [UN Secretary-General’s Five Year Action Agenda] [UN Webpage on Sustainable Transport]