The United Nations conference on climate change in Cancun drew to a close on 10th December. Ten days of negotiations showed how important the transport sector is in terms of reducing the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The global summit on climate at Cancun developed the link between reducing greenhouse gas emissions and innovation in terms of transport infrastructures.
Promoting public transport and the use of non-motorised transport remains part of the developmental focus for public policy over the coming years.
Cancun also brought new focus to questions of co-operation, financing and technological innovations.
The report by the “Bridging the Gap” and “SLoCaT Partnership” collectives had already demonstrated the necessity of creating joint initiatives in terms of implementing transport infrastructure, notably in developing countries.
Today, both industrialised and developing countries must reflect together on how to adapt infrastructures to climate issues, so as to curb the increase in greenhouse gas emissions between now and 2050.
The establishment of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) thus aims to suggest instruments in order to measure, compare and therefore to favour an efficient policy between the States that have set themselves precise targets.
The creation of an international green climate fund, which saw the day during this last summit, is part of this focus: it will develop initiatives in developing countries and facilitate the establishment of a system to finance initiatives while simultaneously strengthening co-operation between different protagonists.
Transport: favouring technological innovation
Emphasis was also placed on technological innovation as the most efficient short-term solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) thus became a supporter of the electric vehicle that won the Zero Race, as well as the largest solar boat in the world, the PlanetSolar.
For Satinder Bindra, Director of Division of Communications and Public Information at UNEP, “It brings a huge message to the negotiating table in Cancun. These pioneers and entrepreneurs have proved that the technology is out there, the solutions are out there. Now what’s needed is the political will to act on these solutions.”
According to Allison Bishins, from EMBARQ, a US organisation that brings together international initiatives concerned with transport, the challenge is to create new models that do not reproduce the American pattern in terms of individual car use.
With 193 countries having signed up to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2020, Cancun appears to be paving the way for new investments to create an innovative transport sector that is committed to the fight against global warming.
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