Bridging the Gap in Panama City

Date: 18/10/2011

The Bridging the Gap Initiative* hosted an interactive side event entitled "Sustainable low carbon transport: accessing support under the UNFCCC", in the UNFCCC Climate Change talks that were held at the beginning of October in Panama City.

TRL's newly appointed Programme Director for Sustainable Transport, Heather Allen, provided an introduction to the Bridging the Gap Initiative and its efforts in promoting sustainable low carbon transport in developing countries. Heather particularly emphasized the many co-benefits that could arise from the implementation of National Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) in the transport sector.

This was followed by presentations from Harald Diaz-Bone of GIZ who gave a summary of the new GIZ project on transport NAMAs "Transfer towards climate-friendly transport technologies and activities" and Ramon Cruz of ITDP who spoke of a practical vision towards "Access to Climate Change Funding for Sustainable Transport".

All three presentations were followed by an interactive session, facilitated by Heather, which focused on how countries can reduce emissions from transport and how the developing world can make this a reality. Discussions revolved around the limited scope for supporting sustainable transport from international financing mechanisms and this was highlighted as something that needed to change in the future. The greatest potential it was felt could be gained from the inclusion of transport in NAMAs and several countries are already considering how best to do this.

For more information on the event, click here.

*Bridging the Gap

The transport sector contributes to 23% of energy-related CO2 emissions and is the fastest growing sector in terms of GHG emissions in developing countries.

To encourage international action and to slow down this growth, GIZ, Veolia Transdev, ITDP, UITP and TRL joined forces in 2009 to encourage the recognition that transport can and should play in mitigating GHG emissions. Together they hope to ensure that a Post 2012 Agreement will be fully applicable to the sustainable land transport sector. The initiative is strengthened further by contributing to the Sustainable Low Carbon Transport Partnership, of which all Bridging the Gap members are a part.

Issued by the TRL Communications Team

For more details please contact:

Mary Treen/Sarah Bailey

Tel:  +44 (0) 1344 770514/770141

Email: mediaenquiries@trl.co.uk