For the first time at the Conference of Parties, about 15 organizations promoting low carbon transport strategies have decided to coordinate their activities and efforts, promote the creation of better framework for addressing transportation CO2 emissions, and to better integrate transportation in the post 2012 framework of the Kyoto Protocol. The Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities Center, Clean Air Institute, World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with assistance from the Carbon Assist Program of the World Bank organized the "Transport and Climate Change: An Urgent Call for Action" as a special event at COP 14 (10 December).
Because of the rapid pace of urbanization in Asian Cities, demand for mobility and energy has increased air pollution, congestion, traffic accidents, and CO2 emissions from the transport sector. Information from the International Energy Agency suggest that 23% of the total energy related CO2 emissions are from fuel combustion in the transport sector and this is expected to at least double by 2050. Side discussions with country negotiators confirmed that the transportation sector is an important part of the climate change agenda; however, more time, effort and lobbying will be required for this sector to be better addressed in the climate change negotiations. Current negotiations are already plagued with issues relating to reduction targets, mitigation and adaptation funds, and mechanisms on how developing countries can gain access to "cleaner technologies," to name a few.
The organizations that coordinated the transport related activities in COP 14 are the CAI-Asia Center, Clean Air Institute (CAI-LAC), ADB, World Bank, Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Global Alliance for EcoMobility, Global Transport Knowledge Partnership (GTKP), ConVoco, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Institute of Transport Policy Studies (ITDP), International Association of Public Transport (UITP), and International Union of Railways (UIC) and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ).
For more info: http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73104.html#h2_1
|