Sustainable transport on the global agenda

Sustainable transport will be on the global agenda in November 2016. For the first time, the United Nations will hold a Global Sustainable Transport Conference on 26-27 November 2016 in Ashgabat in Turkmenistan.

Ban Ki-moon, General-Secretary of the United Nations, expects around 1,5000 particpants at the conference, including Heads of State and Government, private sector CEOs, civil society leaders, and UN officials. The topics for discussion, with regard to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), include road, rail, air, and water transport. Urban transport solutions will feature as a topic, as well as how to reach rural and remote locations through sustainable transport solutions. Another topic will include multi-modal sustainable transport and transit solutions.

There are a number of SDGs directly linked to transport, including health (increased road safety), energy, decent work, economic growth, resilient infrastructure, sustainable cities (access to transport and expanded public transport), sustainable consumption and production (ending fossil fuel subsidies) and the protection of oceans, seas, and maritime resources.

Safe, accessible, convenient and green transport systems will be crucial to achieving sustainable development. The improvement and expansion of sustainable public transport systems, including rapid bus transit, metro, light rail, and ferries, will be at the forefront of the conference sessions. Short and long-range mobility solutions that consider a ‘shared economy’ will be discussed.

Integrated multi-modal transport and transit systems should be interlinked with non-motorized transport, such as walking and cycling, to take into account an emphasis on low-carbon energy modes for social, trade, and freight transport.

Population growth will necessitate massive investment in new transport and infrastructure projects, as well as their maintenance and the maintenance of existing systems. Globally the current total annual investments are between one and two trillion dollars per year. Less than 40% is received by developing countries, where the needs and opportunities are greatest. The Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, adopted in 2015, will elaborate on its approaches to implement the 2030 Agenda.

With about 1.3 million people killed and up to 50 million people injured every year in road accidents alone (excluding air and sea accidents), road safety will be a top priority for discussion at the Global Sustainable Transport Conference.

http://bit.ly/SustainableTransport

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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