Shanghai-May 1st 2014

The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) sent a letter to the Co-Chairs and Member States of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG) presenting its comments to the Working Document prepared for the Eleventh Session of the OWG. The Eleventh Session of the OWG will be held on May 5-9 2014 in New York, United States of America.

In the letter, it was stated that the sustainable transport community believes that a set of well defined and measurable development goals that address the economic, social and environmental dimension of development can be very helpful in providing guidance to a range of communities working on sustainable development, including the transport community. The Results Framework on Sustainable Transport developed by the SLoCaT Partnership outlines how transport can best be mainstreamed in other focus/goal areas.

There are a number of concerns related to the manner that sustainable transport was included in the different Focus Areas in the Working Document for the 11th OWG session. The SLoCaT Partnership believes that there should be a specific target relating to rural access. 3.3 billion people live in rural areas and in many countries poor access (insufficient roads, trails, bridges and transport services) contributes to extreme poverty and limits people’s access to healthcare, education, markets and economic opportunities. We would like to suggest the following reformulation of Target 8g under the Focus area 8 on economic growth, employment and infrastructure: “Develop sustainable infrastructure accessible to all, with attention to the needs of countries in special situations, and by 2030 provide access for 100% of rural populations to safe sustainable transport”.

Given the importance of rural roads and transport services for stimulating food production (input provision, access to markets) and reducing food losses, we suggest the following editing of target 2d under Focus 2 on agriculture and food security: “By 2030 achieve access to adequate inputs, knowledge, productive resources, financial services, markets and sustainable transport for small farmers and fishers, with a particular focus on women and indigenous peoples”.

Recent research from the Global Burden of Disease shows the extent of the health burden (1.24 million fatalities per year), particularly on young people. Currently road safety is included in target 10b under Focus Area 10 on Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements. Considering that in several countries the majority of road crashes happen outside urban areas, it is not appropriate to place road safety under the urban Focus Area. Therefore it is important to include a dedicated road safety target under Focus Area 3: Health and Population Dynamics, which would read: Halve the burden due to global road traffic crashes by halving the number of fatalities and serious injuries by 2030 compared to 2010. This target can be cross referenced when addressing key focus areas such as Urbanisation and Infrastructure. The target is measurable, easy to communicate, inclusive and universal. It would contribute to wider health and sustainable development priorities.

The transport community expresses its strong support for a stand-alone goal to “build inclusive, safe, sustainable cities and human settlements”. This is vital to address issues of equity, climate change, and sustainable mobility. Spatial issues – resource efficient use of land, and comprehensive community building combining housing, schools, parks, water/sanitation, streets and sidewalks -- are an unnatural fit for any but a stand-alone SDG on sustainable cities and human settlements. Extremely important issues such as transport and resilience have already been cut from the list of possible stand-alone goals; the focus area on sustainable cities remains a vital refuge for these to be addressed. It is also an essential part of a successful strategy to mainstream sustainable transport across other possible goal areas as recommended in the 7th OWG session.

The letter concluded with the sustainable transport community's commitment to help implement a strong post-2015 sustainable development agenda.

1111_443_Letter to OWG-Chairs on Mainstreaming of Sustainable Transport in Proposed Post-2015 Development Agenda.pdf

Stakeholder Forum has produced a 'Summary of targets from proposals in the SDGs e-Inventory under the OWG’s 19 Focus Areas'. A section is devoted to targets and indicators related to infrastructure.

Summary of targets from proposals in the SDGs e-Inventory under the OWG’s 19 Focus Areas
Putting stakeholders at the core of post-Rio+20 processes

EcoMobility means traveling through integrated, socially inclusive and environmentally - friendly transport options,including and integrating walking, cycling, wheeling, passenging and carsharing

On the occasion of the EcoMobility World Festival 2013 and upon invitation of the Mayor of Suwon and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, mayors, city planners and mobility experts convened in Suwon, South Korea, in September 2013 for the second EcoMobility 2013 Congress.

These champions of EcoMobility have adopted the Suwon 2013 EcoMobility Impulse and encourage colleagues worldwide to further improve this statement, which shall serve as a guide for inspiration, commitment and action of city leaders on all continents.

The purpose of the Suwon 2013 EcoMobility Impulse is to provide guiding thoughts, principles, examples and starting points for concrete improvements in urban planning & development, be it for existing municipalities or new towns, towards the greening of mobility in our cities worldwide.

1111_351_Suwon_2013_EcoMobility_Impulse.pdf

Can we imagine a life without cars? This call to action sets the tone of the newly released EcoMobility World Festival 2013 Report which documents the experience of Suwon City, South Korea in hosting the first ever month-long car-free initiative.



The EcoMobility World Festival 2013 Report was released today giving an insight into the month-long car-free neighborhood project initiated by ICLEI, co-organized by UN-Habitat and hosted by Suwon City, South Korea in September 2013.

Instead of using cars, the 4,300 residents of Haenggung-dong neighborhood made their daily commute, shopping trips and journeys to leisure activities on foot, with pedal power and with light electric vehicles.

1111_351_EcoMobility-World-Festival-2013-Report-web.pdf

Sustainable Transport was identified as one of 26 cross-cutting thematic areas and cross-sectoral issues in the “The Future We Want”, the outcome document of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). To advance the case for the integration of sustainable transport in the goal framework of the post 2015 development agenda requires the translation of the Rio+20 consensus on the importance of sustainable transport for achieving sustainable development. The Results Framework on Sustainable Transport proposes a Transport related Sustainable Development Goal "Provide Sustainable Transport" and linked to this 5 Targets on Sustainable Transport. Over 30 organizations were consulted in drawing up the draft Results Framework which will provide an important input to the Seventh Session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals.

1111_443_Draft Sustainable Transport Results Framework OWG 7 input.pdf

Following message is on behalf of the members of the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) http://www.slocat.net

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT: A KEY BUILDING BLOCK FOR THE POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK AND SDG'S

• The Rio+20 Outcome Document, The Future We Want, reconfirms the importance of eradication of poverty and the need for sustained, inclusive and equitable growth. It notes that, “transportation and mobility are central to sustainable development” (Par.132-133). It recognizes affordable and sustainable transport is vital to sustainable cities, as well as the need for energy efficiency measures in urban planning, building, and transportation, as part of integrated planning and management (Par.128, 134).

• While unmanaged motorization policies may bring short-lived economic and social gains from additional transport infrastructure, research shows that a large part of these positive benefits are quickly offset by a loss of productivity due to increased congestion, accidents, air pollution and climate change. These cost several points of most countries’ GDP, affecting in particular the most vulnerable and poor.
• Inclusion of sustainable, low carbon transport in the post-2015 development framework and SDGs will stimulate the development of needed enabling policies, regulatory and financing frameworks at the local and national level and support timely implementation of the 17 Rio+20 Voluntary Commitments on Sustainable Transport, including the USD$175 billion decade long commitment by the 8 largest multilateral development banks at Rio+20 for more sustainable, low carbon transport.

WHAT ARE KEY MESSAGES ON TRANSPORT?

• Sustainable Transport enables access to jobs, goods and services that support equitable development while limiting short and long-term adverse environmental, social and economic consequences.

• Achievement of sustainable transport can be realized through “ Avoid-Shift-Improve “(ASI) approach, which aims to: (1) improve access to jobs, goods and services while enabling users to Avoid motorized trips by smarter land use and logistics planning; (2) Shift the transport of goods and persons to the most efficient mode; and (3) Improve the efficiency and environmental performance of transport systems by improved vehicle, fuel, and network operations and management technologies.

• All elements of the ASI Approach have been tested at scale.

• The IEA estimated that global adoption of ASI based policies in the development of transport infrastructure would realize a USD$30 trillion in savings in vehicle and fuel expenditures and a USD$20 trillion in infrastructure savings giving a net savings of USD$50 trillion by 2050.

• The ASI approach provides multiple additional co-benefits and cost savings related to road safety, air pollution, climate change, fuel subsidies removal, universal accessibility and green freight, serving multiple constituencies of civil society and business.

HOW CAN SUSTAINABLE TRANSP[ORT BEST BE INTEGRATED IN THE POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK?

• The MDGs have a strong focus on social development. The post-2015 development framework and any SDGs, should find ways to focus on sustainable transport, along with other key enabling economic sectors like energy and agriculture, as it emphasizes the role of these sectors in poverty alleviation.

• In many countries transport is a larger economic sector than energy. Transport activities go well beyond city borders. Transport has its own institutions, policies and budgets. With these attributes, treating transport as a subsector of energy or cities, as some suggest, will hamper transport sustainability reform.

• In recognition of the importance of transport as an economic activity and its importance in realizing sustainable development, a dedicated sustainable transport SDG is proposed: “Universal Access to Safe, Clean and Affordable Transport,” for which various relevant goals, targets, and indicators are suggested. These should also be reflected where appropriate in other SDGs on energy, cities, health, education, agriculture, etc., given the crosscutting nature of transport. Acknowledging the important contribution of sustainable transport to the post-2015 development agenda and SDGs is also important to raising the profile of transport in ongoing discussions on a new post-2020 global agreement on climate change.

1111_443_One_pager_on_transport_and_post_2015_development_agenda__SDGs_draft 27 Feb.pdf

The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLocaT) - http://www.slocat.net has submitted an open letter to the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the post 2015 Development Agenda calling for the integration of sustainable, low carbon transport in the post-2015 Development Agenda as well as possible SDGs.

1111_443_SLoCaT open letter to HLP on sustainable transport.pdf