Sustainable Urban Transportation in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region

Lviv_tram Worldwide, numerous cities face problems in the transport sector, but smart solutions are available: During the past few years a wealth of best practices and easy-to-implement solutions for urban mobility has been developed with positive impacts in both the short and long term. In general, these solutions consist in reduction of vehicle mileage, strategies of non-motorized transport alternatives and modal shift to more environmentally-friendly public modes. Of course every city has its specific situation: Some have huge traffic jams, others deteriorating conditions of public transport or numerous accidents. Besides the individual benefits, social, economic and ecological consequences arise with growing car ownership and use in our cities.

In that sense, our project “Climate-friendly Mobility in Ukrainian Cities” works with decision-makers and planners in developing concepts, in applying international best-practices and implementing these approaches to create modern public transport systems. The project is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the context of the International Climate Protection Initiative.

Beyond that, UNITAR and GTZ SUTP joined forces to facilitate the continued exchange of information on sustainable urban transport in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. To download the flyer for the SUTECA Project, click here for English and here for Russian.

Analyzing Transport Chapters of Technology Needs Assessment

By the year 2050, the OECD/ITF predicts a 120% growth of global transport emissions on 2000 levels. Most of this increase will be caused by road transport in developing and emerging economies. Technology transfer has always been a key issue in international negotiations on climate change. Technology Needs Assessments (TNAs) are submitted by developing countries to the UNFCCC to outline their respective needs for transfer of and capacity building on GHG mitigating technologies. This paper aims at making a contribution to improving the provision of transport-related chapters in TNA Country Reports, and in particular the range of transferable technologies and measures in the transport sector. Available Country Reports were analyzed with regard to the general coverage of transportation issues and the range of proposed transport technologies suitable for GHG mitigation. The results of the analysis emphasize the importance of "soft" and low-cost measures in the transport sector, such as public transport improvements, land use planning or non-motorized transport.

Download at www.transport 2012.org (pdf-1.0MB)

GTZ Transport at the CIVITAS FORUM conference 2009

The 7^th CIVITAS (City-VITAlity-Sustainability) Forum Conference is the annual platform of the correspondent initiative by the European Commission and was hosted by the city of Krakow in Poland from 19 – 21 October 2009. Its intention is to promote the dialogue between politicians, scientists and practitioners concerning sustainable urban transport in European cities.

World Bank Launches Report on Adapting to Climate Change in Europe and Central Asia

29 October 2009: The World Bank office in Russia hosted the virtual launch of a report on Adapting to Climate Change in Europe and Central Asia. The report highlights that, contrary to popular perception, the region faces a substantial threat from climate change, with a number of the most serious risks already in evidence.

Download link: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ECAEXT/Resources/258598-1243892418318/ECA_CCA_Full_Report.pdf

European Transfer of German Cycling Policy

On Thursday, January 14, the advisory board of the Project “Transfer of German Cycling Policy” met in Berlin at the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu). The aim of the project is to prepare information on German legislation and good practice examples on cycling policy. There are many cities in Germany like Münster, that have an advanced and internationally acknowledged cycling system. The German Transport Ministry is supporting the project and intends to present these examples in the coming years in English and other foreign languages. Daniel Bongardt participated on behalf of GTZ at the meeting and introduced the GTZ Handbook on a Cycling Inclusive Policy and activities of GTZ in Eastern Europe.

EU - Action Plan on urban mobility

The European Commission adopted the Action Plan on urban mobility on 30 September 2009.

The Action Plan proposes twenty measures to encourage and help local, regional and national authorities in achieving their goals for sustainable urban mobility. With the Action Plan, the European Commission presents for the first time a comprehensive support package in the field of urban mobility.

Local, regional and national authorities are free to use this support, and the tools that will be offered. By doing so, they will be better equipped to address the challenge of sustainable urban mobility, which will facilitate their policy making. In addition, Europe's citizens and companies will benefit from this on a daily basis.

The actions are being launched over the four years following the Action Plan's adoption. The European Commission will conduct a review of the implementation of the Action Plan in the year 2012, and will assess the need for further action.

Link (copy to your browser): http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2009:0490:FIN:EN:PDF

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