Sustainable transportation imperative to achieve MDGs: Toepfer

ABU DHABI, 30 Jan, 05 (WAM) - Dr. Klaus Toepfer, United Nations UnderSecretary General and Executive Director of UNEP today urged countriesacross the world to phase out leaded petrol and initiate measures forefficient and sustainable transportation as this was imperative to achievethe Millennium Development Goals, MDGs.

Dr. Toepfer, who addressed delegates at the inaugural session of theEnvironment 2005 Exhibition and Conference at the Abu Dhabi InternationalExhibition Centre stressed that the year 2005 will be one of the mostimportant for civilised nations. A summit to discuss the reform agendainitiated by the UN to achieve the MDGs will be held in New York, wherevarious goals will be reviewed. True progress on this front requiresthat developing countries have efficient and sustainable transportationto ensure true economic development and compete equitably with developednations in international commerce, he said.

Dr Toepfer emphasised the need for countries to phase out leadedpetrol due to its harmful effects, particularly on children and in viewof the fact that the number of vehicles on the road in all parts of theworld is expected to rise signficantly in the coming years. Efforts shouldbe made by energy producing countries to produce more efficient and cleanfuel, he added.

He said that future efforts should be directed towards energy sourcesthat are more efficient and reduce dangerous emissions. Developing countriesshould also find ways to reduce problems of mobility in the highly populatedcities and ensure reliable transportation for their citizens.

Dr. Toepfer also referred to UNEP's partnership in the Abu Dhabi EnvironmentInitiative , stating that the project signalled that environment was highon the agenda of the UAE.

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, UN Under Secretary General and HighRepresentative for the Least Developed Countries and Small Island DevelopingStates in his speech, pointed out that availability of efficient transportwas one of the trade engines of economic growth in developing nations.

Shortage of transport and logistical services negatively impacted developmentin these countries.

Developing countries spent double the funds on transportation comparedwith developed states, putting them at a disadvantage in world trade,he said. In fact, high transportation costs placed more significant barrierson progress in developing nations that tariffs, he said.

Sustainable transportation should be viewed in a holistic manner coveringsocial, health and environment considerations, Dr. Chowdhury said.

Among issues that require attention were road safety, transmission ofHIV/Aids virus due to truck drivers moving across international borders,and climate change caused by air pollution due to vehicle emissions. Roadsafety in particular needed focussed attention as UN studies had showedthat nearly 1.2 million people die of road accidents every year and millionsmore sustain injuries, he said. The costs of these accidents account fornearly 2 per cent of the GNP of developing countries, he pointed out.

He also referred to the need to address the problems of the 31 landlockedcountries who are members of the UN, particularly the poor countries inAfrica. He also urged corporates and banking and insurance sectors toencourage environmentally sound technologies.

W. Adrian Loader, Director, Strategic Planning Sustainable Developmentand External Affiars, Shell International, said that countries had towork on reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency as by the year2030, there will be as many light vehicles on the road in developing countriesas in the developed states. The EU, he said is working on reducing emissionsby 2010 to less than 80 per cent of its levels in 1990, but it wouldbe a long time before developing countries reached that level.

He called for a global transformation as there would be a three-foldincrease in energy needs and three times more vehicles on the roads ina few years. He stressed the need to study other fuel efficient energysources and said that Shell was carrying out some projects in this field.

It was also assisting some developing countries integrate urban tranportsystems for more efficient services.

Margaret Wolf, Vice Minister and Parliamentary State Secretary, Germany,lauded the environment initiatives of the UAE. In view of the similaritybetween Germany and the UAE in the field of energy sources, she calledfor greater bi-lateral dialogue between environment authorities in boththe countries.