Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to address the Inland Transport Committee meeting.
With 76 years of history and as a custodian of 59 United Nations conventions, the Inland Transport Committee has had a tremendous impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the world.
The Committee’s reach is truly impressive, with 152 of 193 United Nations Member States participating as contracting parties to its legal instruments.
Your deliberations here impact much more than the transport sector.
Effective transport reinforces connectivity at all levels, facilitating the integration of economies, improving social equity, enhancing rural-urban linkages and building resilience.
By allowing for the mobility of people and goods, effective transport systems enhance economic growth and improve access to quality services, such as health, education and finance.
But transport systems are most effective when they are environmentally sustainable.
Sustainable transport has been identified as one of the key enablers of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The recommendations emerging from the Second Global Sustainable Transport Conference, helped illustrate this.
The use of fossil fuels as the dominant source of energy for transport remains a global challenge.
Transport is the sector with the lowest share of renewable energy use. More than 95% of transport energy still comes from petroleum products.
Nearly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions come from transport and these emissions are projected to grow significantly in the years to come, further aggravating climate change.
The emitted pollutants, also directly impact the health of populations, especially in cities.
For these reasons, we are extremely pleased to see that this year’s High-level policy segment of the Committee is focused on “Actions of the inland transport sector to join the global fight against climate change”.
Excellencies,
The 2030 Agenda promised to leave no one behind.
Transport must respond to the questions of equality.
Women face particular challenges, both as providers and users of sustainable transport, and today’s transport solutions are not meeting their needs.
Safety questions still determine many women’s choice of transport and even limit their daily mobility.
We must do better.
More than one billion persons with disabilities around the world also face particular challenges. These individuals require and deserve safe and accessible transport, including access to basic infrastructure to support their mobility.
Excellencies,
We are at the mid-way point of the implementation of the SDGs, and the year of 2023 must signal both a firm recommitment to the Goals and a turning point in our efforts.
The SDG Summit in September will bring together Heads of States and Governments to take stock of our current SDG implementation.
The eyes of the world will be upon us to see whether we can pivot away from multiple crises towards a better future.
An ambitious outcome document should refocus our efforts.
New impactful initiatives must leverage the interlinkages across the Goals.
Your deliberations also have important linkages with the Secretary-General’s Climate Ambition Summit and other important September events, including those on Financing and Health.
Let us use this unique moment in time to highlight the concrete solutions of sustainable transport, as a crucial enabler of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement.
I wish you every success in your deliberations.
Thank you.