As part of COP18, the 18th Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) hosted an event on November 27, “Mainstreaming Sustainable Low Carbon Transport with Voluntary Commitments: From Rio+20 to NAMAs”.  Ramon Cruz from ITDP chaired the session, which focused on how the current climate finance mechanisms through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) did not favor the transport sector and how NAMAs is better suited for its flexibility and comprehensive approach to funding. The panel also revealed the momentum for sustainable transport within the sustainable development community.

Cornie Huizenga from the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLOCAT) started the panel with a presentation demonstrating how it would be impossible for the world to cover the emissions gap without seriously addressing the emissions from the transport sector.  He suggested the Avoid-Shift-Improve approach in order to deal with this gap. Finally, Mr. Huizenga explained the different processes that are addressing the issue of sustainable transport at the United Nations.

Tyrrell Duncan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reinforced the commitment of the Multilateral Development Banks for the $175 billion toward sustainable transportation and called for more action at the international level to raise the profile of transport at international processes.  Having language that is friendly to sustainable transport in international agreements such as the sustainable development goals help institutions make more determined decisions in favor sustainable transport. Mr. Wendy Aritenang from the Ministry of Transport in Indonesia gave an overview of the government’s strategy to mitigate emissions in the transport sector, the importance of the co-benefits and the international assistance to catalyze this strategy.  Benoit Lefevre and Cynthia Menendez from the EMBARQ network expanded on the concept of NAMAs as and offered specific examples of what some countries are doing, especially Mexico.