“Encouraging sustainable mobility: the challenge for international organisations”: organised on Wednesday 18 October 2017 on the campus of the University of Lausanne, this European conference brought together two speakers around Pat Cox, President of the Foundation and former President of the European Parliament: Patrick Oliva – co-founder with SLoCaT (Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport) of the Paris Process on Mobility and Climate – and José Viegas – professor at the University of Lisbon and former Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum.
This conference highlighted the Foundation’s work as part of its Transport Expertise Group created in 2016.
After the opening of the event by Pat Cox, Patrick Oliva’s presentation focused on the consequences of the Paris Agreement on the transport sector. Adopted in 2015 following COP21, this binding agreement aims to keep global warming below 2°C compared to the pre-industrial period. The transport sector, which is largely responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, must therefore be rethought.
Following these contextual considerations, Mr. Oliva presented the conclusions led by the PPMC on the means and possibilities of improvement to decarbonize the transport sector. These conclusions focus on eight main action points: 1/ coordinated urban transformation 2/ low-carbon energy and new supply strategies 3/ work on modal efficiency and interconnectivity 4/ defragmentation of freight circuits 5/ service alternatives to unnecessary travel 6/ solutions adapted to the rural world 7/ infrastructure adaptation and 8/ economic instruments.
After an initial period of questions and answers with the public, the European conference continued with the intervention of José Viegas.
The International Transport Forum is an international organisation belonging to the OECD that brings together transport ministers from member countries at intergovernmental conferences. José Viegas was able to provide a strategic overview of the issues facing the ITF in terms of sustainable mobility.
For him, two main reasons explain the strong increase in transport in recent decades: more sustained urbanisation, as well as the emergence of emerging economies that demand transport. These two causes have strong consequences, not only in terms of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, but also in social terms (social exclusion of those who have little or no access to mobility) and quality of life (noise pollution, traffic congestion).
For the speaker, while the increase in traffic has visible consequences, a radical change remains complicated, particularly due to a certain inertia of the rich countries, and the aspirations of the emerging countries, which rightly want to benefit from a flourishing economy and the related trade.
The solutions are in a strategic change, introducing short-term changes by taking advantage of the renewal created by the emergence of new technologies. This includes supporting new forms of mobility, such as shared mobility, economic instruments, such as new road pricing systems, and sustainable urban planning.
Introduction by Mr Pat Cox, President of the Foundation, and speech by Mr Patrick Oliva, cofounder of the Paris Process on Mobility and Climate.
Lecture by Mr José Viegas, former Secretary General of the International Transport Forum.