High-Level Ministerial Roundtable on Green Urban Transport held within COP29
On November 20, a Ministerial Roundtable on Green Urban Transport was held within the Urbanization, Transport and Tourism Day at COP29.
The event was jointly organized by the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport (MDDT), COP29 Presidency, the International Transport Forum (ITF) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), UN’s leading agency.
Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev, who opened the event with an introductory speech, said that this event is of great importance in the direction of decarbonization of urban transport, which is one of the most global problems of our time. “Our goal is to create sustainable urban mobility. With this, we aim to transform our cities and urban mobility systems so that they meet the needs of both people and the planet,” the minister said.
It was reported that important work has been carried out in Azerbaijan towards greening urban transport. It was informed that electric buses have been introduced in Baku city, micromobility infrastructure has been developed, and the network of bus lanes has been expanded.
Then Young Tae Kim, Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum, said that instead of continuing and expanding the current system, governments should attract investment to create a sustainable transport system they want to see in the future. “Governments need to have a vision for transport infrastructure. To create an integrated system, it is important to have coordination between local governments and transport network providers, industries, investors and civil society,” the Secretary-General said.
Then Anacláudia Rossbach, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN-Habitat, a leading UN agency, spoke at the event. “The Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change comes at a critical moment as countries are revising their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This meeting represented a key opportunity for dialogue that can help highlight the importance of aligning national strategies with local realities including the housing crisis, energy poverty, the loss of nature and biodiversity in cities and the challenge of financing development priorities. Ultimately, we believe this meeting will help maximize our collective impact in addressing climate challenges,” said Anacláudia Rossbach, UN-Habitat Executive Director.
Strategies for integrating sustainable urban transport system into national, regional and city planning structures were discussed at the event. It was stressed that there is a need to promote closer collaboration between stakeholders and governments to accelerate the decarbonization of urban transport. It was also noted that joint planning between the states will create conditions for the development of sustainable infrastructure and the inclusion of sustainability in the countries’ policies.
At the event, discussions were held on the establishment of the Green Urban Transport System, best practices, financing of this area and national action plans.
In conclusion, it was highlighted that this event, held within the framework of COP29, will accelerate the decarbonization of urban transport globally and put forward solutions that can be integrated into national policies and frameworks.
