Skip to main content

Summit of Ministers calls for more global co-operation in transport policy

“Policymakers are facing greater levels of uncertainty in decision making, with the speed, nature, intensity and timing of change” Ministers of Transport from around the world have called for more international co-operation to create transport systems for the needs of a changing world. “Global transformational change is a characteristic of our age”, ministers from the 54 member countries of the International Transport Forum (ITF) state in a declaration agreed today at their Annual Summit in Leipzig,
May 23, 2014 Read time: 3 mins
“Policymakers are facing greater levels of uncertainty in decision making, with the speed, nature, intensity and timing of change”
 
Ministers of Transport from around the world have called for more international co-operation to create transport systems for the needs of a changing world.
 
“Global transformational change is a characteristic of our age”, ministers from the 54 member countries of the 998 International Transport Forum (ITF) state in a declaration agreed today at their Annual Summit in Leipzig, Germany.
 
Noting the impact of megatrends like demographic change, digitalisation, shifting trade flows and climate change, the ministerial declaration states:  
 
“In this environment of transformation, policymakers are facing greater levels of uncertainty in decision making, with the speed, nature, intensity and timing of change in recent years occurring beyond what has been expected.”
 
“The reality of governing in this interconnected world requires greater emphasis on international and regional co-operation as well as information sharing, and suggests that policymakers should work together more effectively to adopt common policy responses.”
 
“While adapting to these global economic and societal phenomena, transport itself is also a driver of change, as innovation in the sector opens new frontiers. In this way, transport is itself defining new landscapes of opportunity for a greener and more inclusive economy and society.”
 
Ministers in their declaration also issued a “call for development as appropriate of international standards for implementing new technologies alongside agreed safety and privacy protocols.”
 
Ministers also adopted a renewed mandate for the International Transport Forum, which underlines the role of the ITF as a global organisation covering all transport modes. It sets as objectives for the ITF “to serve as a global platform for discussion and pre-negotiation of transport policy issues across all modes”, to “foster a deeper understanding of the role of transport in economic growth, environmental sustainability and social inclusion” and to “raise the public profile of transport policy.” It also spells out the instruments through which ITF will work towards these objectives.

The renewed mandate builds upon the Ministers’ Declaration adopted in Dublin in 2006 which established the International Transport Forum. Ministers meeting in Leipzig recalled the “significant progress made over the ITF’s initial period of development towards meeting the objectives set out in the Dublin Declaration.”

In adopting the renewed mandate, Ministers also highlighted that in view of the positive development of the organisation over the past eight years, “the ITF is well-positioned to carry out its renewed mandate, pursuing its vital role in serving the transport sector and its stakeholders across the world.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IRF World Congress 2024: road user charging is the future
    October 16, 2024
    Environmental emergency has put transport at the heart of policymakers’ agendas
  • Developments in toll interoperability
    July 16, 2012
    The North Carolina Turnpike Authority's JJ Eden talks about developments within the Alliance for Toll Interoperability. The Alliance for Toll Interoperability grew out of the US State of North Carolina's moves to introduce modern, Open Road Tolling (ORT) and the identification of revenue 'holes' when it came to out-of-state customers. Initially, the Alliance looked to achieve some form of common ground when it came to the use of transponders used by different agencies but alighted on video-based tolling as
  • A carbon free and accident free Europe by 2015?
    February 2, 2012
    By 2050, the Europe Commission aims to make transport in Europe carbon- and accident-free. Between now and then, however, a significant technological development and deployment effort is needed. Here, Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda, talks about what's being done. In many respects, COOPERS, CVIS and SAFESPOT, set up by the European Commission (EC) to explore the potential of cooperative infrastructure systems, are already legacy projects. Between them, the three devel
  • Building Europe’s roads for driverless age
    June 17, 2022
    Creating smart, co-operative road transport systems that harness the white heat of technology won’t be easy but a new document shows the way – Andrew Stone does some reading…