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EVENT: Exploring the wider benefits of carbon reduction in the urban transport sector
The EC's FP7 project CATCH (Carbon Aware Travelling CHoice) is holding a two day workshop on the 15th and 16th of November in The Hague (the Netherlands) and would like to invite you to attend. The project is developing an online knowledge platform for decision makers in cities to help them to reduce their transport related GHG emissions by encouraging and facilitating their citizens to make climate friendly travel choices. This workshop will be used to discuss the progress and direction of the project as well as examples of international best practices and analyses of co-benefits. It will also provide opportunities to network with city representatives working in transport and mobility departments and experts and academics in the fields of transport, climate change and behavioural change.
Attendance is free of charge but the number of participants is limited. If you would like to hear more about the event then please contact abinsted@trl.co.uk. Or visit the project website www.carbonaware.eu.
ADB-IDB-SLoCaT release consultants report on transport NAMAs
The Climate Instruments for the Transport Sector (CITS) study, commissioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in support of the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), gives an assessment of the current state of affairs with regard to the impact on the transport sector in developing countries by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF). Based on desk analysis and case studies in Asian and Latin American cities, the study also provides recommendations for the successful scale-up of climate finance and capacity building, particularly by the use of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) for the transport sector.
UNECE Holds Round Table on Climate Change and Transport
There is a clear consensus among scientists, policy-makers, engineers and business leaders from the automotive industry that a concerted action is needed to address climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, especially those of CO2.
In this respect, the UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) hold a'Round Table on Climate Change and Transport' in Geneva on 24 June 2010.
AWGs conclude in Bonn leaving much homework for October meeting in Tianjin, China
The 13th session of the AWG-KP and the 11th session of the AWG-LCA came to a close late on Friday, 6 August after five days of negotiations. The slow progress seen in both of the AWGs call for an acceleration in the process during the next round of talks to be held in Tianjin China, between 4-9 October - the last of such talks scheduled before the COP16 in Cancun.
The Bridging the Gap Initiative will use the intersessional period to conduct further work in supporting Parties to tap into the large potential of the transport sector in contributing to low carbon, resilient growth.
Revenues from international transport under the spotlight
The fourth day of the ongoing climate talks in Bonn featured a special briefing session on the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing. Professor Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics, a key member of the Group, provided an overview of the potential sources of finance that would help reach the required 100 billion dollars per annum noted within the Copenhagen Accord. Revenues from international transport is one of six major public sources of finance that are being discussed in the work of the Group, in addition to which private sources are also considered. The Group is advancing its work towards delivering a final report by COP16 in Cancun, to help move the issue of financing forward within the UNFCCC process.
Later on in the day, a side event was hosted by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), in which representatives from the Cook Islands and Panama stressed the importance not to treat maritime transport as "a cash cow" for climate action. Presentations and related material available from here - search for "IMO" in the list.
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres answers questions on transport
As climate talks in Bonn continued into its third day, the new Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, Ms. Christiana Figueres gave an empassioned briefing to civil society, highlighting amongst others her belief that Cancun can mark important progress on key issues including adaptation, the technology mechanism, financial mechanism, REDD and fast track financing.
In answer to a question posed by the Bridging the Gap Initiative on how the transport sector can proactively contribute to the climate process, Ms. Figueres firstly acknowledged that the sector represents on average around 30% of emissions in developing countries, and sometimes even higher. She expressed the transport sector as a "very key sector for the entire world" but one in which investments in the sector cannot be justified only from a climate perspective. She noted the importance of putting together "a basket of arguments" to generate a compelling case for modernising transport systems in developing countries, which would include health, fuel efficiency and savings on fuel costs, enhancing citizens' comfort in cities, and addressing local air pollution.
For this reason, she noted that transport would be one of the key sectors that would benefit from NAMAs (and the financing thereof), which would go beyond offsetting mechanisms such as the CDM. She challenged the sector to look more into such financing opportunities, particularly working with cities who would share a common interest in addressing transport.
