Details

The international congress serves as platform to present theoretical concepts of ecological urban and traffic planning as well as current challenges of transport policy in different Asian countries. New ideas and concept will be presented not only by academic experts but also by two institutions of the United Nations which co-organise the Forum: The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and the Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD). Delegations from 24 Asian nations will present and discuss the situation in their countries. For conclusion, implications for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris will be drawn.

The Regional project "Energy Security and Climate Change in Asia Pacific" (RECAP) and the Dutch NGO "Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT)" jointly organise a EST side event on mobility. Experts will compare the situation of transport politics in different countries and draw political recommendations for the future. The focus is particularly on a more efficient integration of different means of transport aiming on establishing an economically and ecologially more sustainable transport system. Its contribution to the climate change and the possibilities of transformation processes towards a low-emission infrastructure will also be a focal point of discussion.

Promoting and fostering sustainable transport development is an important concern of the RECAP programme in 2015. Road traffic plays an important role for global climate change as well as for the quality of life in urban areas. Public and individual transport as well as shipping and air traffic contribute to the climate change by producing a large part of the overall emission of particulate matter and climate-wrecking gases.

Hence, a low-emission transport infrastructure is crucial for the sustainable development of urban and rural areas in the Asia-Pacific region.

In June 2015, RECAP and SLoCaT had already conducted a workshop about private sector financing for low-emission transport. A side event of the Climate Change Conference in Paris will also be organised.