The United Nations transport policies and SWOMM
The General Assembly of United Nations recognised, in the Agenda 21 (Chapter 7 and 9) and in its further implementing sessions, that the issue of transport has been playing a key role in determining the demand for energy.
Transportation, in fact, is expected to grow both in the developed than in the developing countries. In the latter, the construction of proper transport infrastructures is highly recommended, for alleviating poverty by allowing access to basic services, markets, employment, education. At the same time new infrastructures should be compliant with appropriate environmental standards.
In particular, as current patterns of transportation development are not sustainable in the long run, it was generally recognised that more efficient transport systems are needed to mitigate negative externalities to human health and the environment.
Therefore, in the preparatory works to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, as well as in Johannesburg (2002), the General Assembly together with the countries agreed upon the necessity for international co-operation and integrated approaches for policy makers in the fields of land use, infrastructure, public transport systems and freight networks.
Furthermore, they indicated urgent actions as the accelerated phase-out of leaded gasoline, the promotion of voluntary guidelines, the development of national and international partnerships for implementing efficient transport infrastructure, the promotion of non-motorised means of transport, the development of innovative mass transit schemes.
The contribution of SWOMM (Scientific Workshop on Mountain Mobility) to the CSD-18 Transport Session has proved in line with these objectives and the general policy framework. In particular the focus was placed on the peculiar characteristics of mobility and transport in the mountains which have been recognised as having common features, according to the SWOMM’s philosophy.
Related links within the SWOMM Website
- SWOMM Side Event (12th May 2010) at the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in New York
- “Sustainable Mobility in Mountain Areas” – SWOMM Side Event at the CSD18
- Outcomes from the SWOMM Side Event at CSD18 – “Sustainable Mobility in Mountain Areas”
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[...] The results of the Conference will feed into various efforts and international processes (i.e. the UN Secretary General’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP), the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or Rio+20), and the CSD biennial cycle 20/21 in 2013 and 2014). SWOMM also aims to contribute to these international processes and discussions on SMD, focusing on sustainable transport in the mountain. In particular, in 2010, a special side event was organized during the CSD session on transport (swomm-side-event-12th-may-2010-at-the-commission-on-sustainable-development-csd; the-united-nations-transport-policies). [...]