Jack Short, Secretary General of the ITF
The UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen is looking at ways to achieve cost effective greenhouse gas emissions from transport in a key meeting which aims to build on the approach taken by the 50by50 campaign run by the FIA Foundation.
The International Transport Forum, which partners the FIA Foundation, the UN Environment Programme and the International Energy Agency in the 50by50 campaign, hosted the Copenhagen event on 15 December 2009. Bianca Jagger, Founder and Chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation and Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador, and Jack Short, Secretary General of the ITF gave keynote speeches.
Concentrating on cost-effective policy options to substantially reduce transport emissions, an expert panel of high-level speakers from the automotive industry, the UN bodies responsible for international aviation and maritime transport, the International Energy Agency and the transportation research community discussed how, how much and at what cost the transport sector can contribute to ambitious GHG targets.
Sheila Watson, FIA Foundation Director of Environment and Executive Secretary of the 50 by 50 campaign said: “This high level event in Copenhagen today gives us a crucial opportunity to look at the issue of greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. The 50by50 Global Fuel Economy Initiative is a key part of this. A move across the global fleet towards far better fuel economy at a scale which is already technically achievable, could save close to half of CO2 emissions from cars and would make an important contribution. This seminar at the UN climate change summit should take the agenda forward.”
Bianca Jagger said that all sectors, particularly transport have a part to play. “Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue: it touches every part of our lives: peace, security, human rights, poverty, hunger, health, mass migration and economics,” she said. “All sectors will have to contribute to a lasting solution – this means that transport will have to significantly de-carbonise itself.”
ITF Secretary General Jack Short said: “There are low-cost opportunities for GHG emission reductions in transport and a surprising number of them can actually save money by reducing fuel expenditures. Yet there are very real barriers that prevent these win-win strategies from being implemented – there is a clear role for pro-active policies including standard-setting and carbon-trading in overcoming them”.
Earlier at the Copenhagen summit, the Major Economies Forum (MEF) has endorsed the ’50 by 50’ campaign in a new technology action plan for ‘advanced vehicles’.
The MEF highlighted the GFEI 50 by 50 campaign as an example of individual and collective country actions that can help overcome market barriers and realise the potential of advance vehicles. The MEF is a group of 17 developed and developing economies instigated by the US government earlier in 2009, which subsequently met alongside this year’s G8 summit in Italy.
President Barack Obama has made the MEF a priority and following the report launch he asked his Energy Secretary Steven Chu to intensify cooperation with his counterparts both in MEF countries and around the world.
In listing support for the GFEI as the 2nd of its key recommendations, the MEF report said: “The 50 by 50 Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) being promoted by the IEA and its partners is an example of a mechanism with an ambitious long-term target that could focus discussion on advanced vehicles and fuels within the international community. Such basic coordination helps ensure the health of the international automotive industry, which faces a global market and has important implications for individual economies. Thus, MEF countries may wish to promote or facilitate these exchanges.”
MEF is tasked with encouraging the development and deployment of low-carbon and climate-friendly technologies. Alongside the US, the participating governments are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, and the UK. The EU Commission, Sweden as EU President, and Denmark as host of the UN climate change summit are also participating.
The 50 by 50 campaign was praised by the MEF in its report which said it could “establish an ambitious overall goal for MEF countries.” Key recommendations from the GFEI were endorsed by the MEF. “Achieving ambitious, yet realistic, fuel economy targets is especially important in developing countries, since most new vehicles in the world will be bought and operated in these countries by 2050,” said the report. Overall, the MEF said that fuel economy improvements outlined by the 50 by 50 campaign are likely to result in at least a stabilisation of CO2 emissions from the global car fleet.
The advanced vehicles document is part of a suite of plans which lay out options for ambitious government action on 10 key clean energy technologies. The other areas include bio-energy; building sector energy efficiency; carbon capture, use and storage; high-efficiency, low-emissions coal technologies; industrial energy efficiency; marine energy; smart grids; solar energy; and wind energy.
For more information on the GHG in transportation session, see: http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/Proceedings/COP15/index.html
The reports and further information on the MEF are available here: http://www.majoreconomiesforum.org/
The UN Climate Change conference website is here: http://en.cop15.dk/