ITF supports UN high-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport

The Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD, José Viegas, has welcomed the creation of a high-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and pledged to support the work of the new body. The creation of the Advisory Group was announced by the UN on 8 August. It will consist of twelve leading representatives of the transport sector and is mandated to provide secretary-general Ban Ki-moon with recommendations on sustainable transport ac
August 15, 2014 Read time: 3 mins

The Secretary-General of the 998 International Transport Forum (ITF) at the 7353 OECD, José Viegas, has welcomed the creation of a high-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and pledged to support the work of the new body.

The creation of the Advisory Group was announced by the UN on 8 August. It will consist of twelve leading representatives of the transport sector and is mandated to provide secretary-general Ban Ki-moon with recommendations on sustainable transport actionable on global, national, local and sector levels over the next three years.

“The creation of the UN high-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport constitutes an important step towards focusing on transport as a priority building block for sustainable development,” said Viegas.

“More than 40 years after the first oil crisis of 1973 and more than 20 years after global warming became a household word, transport is still 97 per cent dependent on fossil fuels and produces almost 25 per cent of man-made carbon emissions. The time has come to end this, because it is simply unsustainable.”

Viegas added that rapid urbanisation also required action in the transport arena to ensure the dramatic growth of cities in the coming decades remains sustainable: “Where efficient urban mobility systems provide good access, growing cities can be places of opportunity and motors of economic growth. Without it, they are prone to become poverty traps and even places of squalor. The choice is ours, and we face it now.”

“The International Transport Forum, which brings together the ministers with responsibility for transport of 54 countries, is prepared to support the High-Level Advisory Group in whatever ways it can,” Viegas said.

“Sustainability will be an important theme at ITF’s Annual Summit of Transport Ministers in May 2015 in Leipzig, Germany. And we are confident that our analytical work, such as the annual ITF Transport Outlook, can provide valuable substantive input for the development of the group’s recommendations.”

“The ITF is delighted that Olof Persson, CEO of 609 Volvo Group and distinguished member of the ITF Corporate Partnership Board, has been named a co-chair of the High-Level Group, and that many other distinguished personalities closely associated with the International Transport Forum will serve as members. The International Transport Forum wishes the work of the high-level Group on Sustainable Transport every success in its endeavours.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS America historic meeting welcomes industry leaders
    June 1, 2015
    Welcome to ITS America’s 25th Annual Meeting Anniversary in Pittsburgh! This historic silver anniversary brings together more than 2,000 of the nation’s top transportation and technology policymakers, business leaders, engineers, investors and researchers. The event’s theme – Bridges to Innovation – is appropriate in that the issues to be discussed and debated and the technologies on display are representative of how important ITS is to America’s – and the world’s – transportation future.
    Read More
  • Fleet management market ‘worth US$35billion by 2019’
    November 4, 2014
    According to a new market research report Fleet Management Market by Components, Technologies and Services (Fleet Analytics, Vehicle Tracking & Fleet Monitoring, Telemetric, Vendor Services), by Fleet Vehicle Types (Trucks, Light Goods, Buses, Corporate Fleets, Container Ships, Aircrafts) - Global Forecast to 2019, published by MarketsandMarkets, the Fleet Management Market is expected to grow from US$12.06 billion in 2014 to US$35.35 billion by 2019, at an compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.0 per cen
    Read More
  • Travel information is heading towards smartphones
    January 30, 2012
    Travel information services are undergoing a step change as rapid increase in sales of smartphones brings ITS technology to consumers' fingertips. A virtuous circle of expanding capability is under way in traffic and travel information services, promising much for drivers and reduction of road congestion. A recent rapid rise in sales of smartphones has boosted numbers of vehicles carrying GPS enabled devices and so brought expansion of traffic data available for analysis and dissemination. Greater numbers o
    Read More
  • IBTTA 2011 Annual Meeting highlights developing trends in tolling
    January 26, 2012
    Alain Estiot, chief meeting organiser of this year's IBTTA Annual Meeting and Exhibition, talks about hot topics for discussion. The IBTTA's 79th Annual Meeting and Exhibition, which takes place this year in Berlin in September, will once again take many of the developing trends from around the world and look at their effects on the tolling sector. Host organisation Toll Collect's Alain Estiot, chief meeting organiser, says that the event has to be viewed against a backdrop of major global change.
    Read More

Highlighted Content