Transport and Energy: The Challenge of Climate Change

Following the success of its first annual meeting which gathered Ministers of Transport from 51 countries along with key players from business and industry, from research and civil society, the International Transport Forum has published its proceedings under the title 2008 Forum Highlights – Transport and Energy: The Challenge of Climate Change. This publication consolidates the input from policy makers, leading industry representatives, top scientists and others from the transport sector during the three day Forum held from 28-30 May 2008 in Leipzig, Germany. “At the Forum, we initiated an important dialogue which we want to continue. The success of our first event is an encouragement and a positive sign to build on for the future”, said Jack Short, Secretary General of the ITF, while presenting this publication in Paris on Tuesday.

The release of the Forum Highlights comes at a key moment with the UN Climate Change Conference taking place this week in Poznan, as well as the ongoing negotiations in the European Union to achieve agreed objectives in the fight against climate change. At the conclusion of the International Transport Forum 2008, ministers released a set of key messages calling for a strategic approach in meeting the energy and climate change challenge to the transport sector and the importance of realistic policy measures that can encourage improved energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions. “For transport to first limit and then reduce its emissions, a combination of policy and technological advances is needed,” Mr Short explained.

Some of the key events of the Forum included in this publication are addresses by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Nobel Prize winner Rajendra K. Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Four workshops were held on energy efficient technologies, passenger behavior and reducing CO2 emissions in freight/goods transport as well as in emerging countries. The output of these workshops fed into the panel discussions giving representatives of both government and industry an opportunity for a lively exchange on these issues. A summary of the panel discussions and the final key messages supported by the Ministers of Transport can be found in the 2008 Forum Highlights. Other focal points reviewed are the awards given to young researchers, fields visits, a children’s university and an exhibition of new technology and eco-driving.

The Forum Highlights publication is available from www.oecdbookshop.org in English, French and German either as a print version or e-book.

For further information on Forum 2008 and our upcoming Forum 2009 on the theme of Transport for a Global Economy: New Challenges and Opportunities see www.internationaltransportforum.org