Major Group: NGOs
This statement was written for NGOs with Rob Wheeler and Dirk including NGO statements. It was
not given.
Transport is a commons good in that all people need transport. Therefore people already create
transportation systems to meet their special needs. Governments can encourage this by rewarding local
communities for instituting systems which have a low impact on environmental, species and human
health.
70% of the World Bank's funding for Transportation goes to roads & highways. We need to
begin a planning process to shift to fully sustainable transportation systems. This can include
using alternative economic indicators, tax incentives and use of surcharges and transportation
pricing which takes into account the real cost to human and environmental health (
ursulaproject.org ).We need to increase the level of funding across the board for public
transportation and put mass transit options and non motorized transport in place, giving priority to
investment in their infrastructure and making them the backbone of urban transport systems, this being
the only alternative to the sharply-rising level of motorization in the developing world.
Governments can encourage the shift this through smart urban planning, involving communities in
transportation spending and choices, Congestion Pricing, encouraging Rural Transport Cooperatives as
well as vehicle, equipment and animal sharing; and reimburse bikers at standard personal auto mileage
rate. Planning transportation infrastructure must also be adjusted to remove gender disadvantages and
to reduce impacts on biodiversity. We must also remember that animals and plant species have to
travel too.
The UN Member States have agreed to eliminate unsustainable subsidies for more than 20 years,
which have a profound effect on our transport options and their impacts on the natural environment.
The UN needs to establish either a specific Protocol and/or a Partnership Initiative to support all
countries in phasing out unsustainable subsidies and using the monies saved to invest in sustainable
technologies and practices instead.
The UN and Member States should consider the use of a Cap and Share Programme or Sky Trust under
which each adult could receive a yearly carbon unit p ermit to sell for income, and each year, numbers of
carbon units issued annually to fossil fuel producers is reduced. Over time the permit price will rise as
fossil-free economy emerges. Some of the permits issued can be sold to pay for international activities such
as Carbon Maintenance and Transition Funds. The income for international activities could be about $345
billion a year. (To learn more about Cap and Share Programmes you can go to Feasta.org.)
This report was written for the NGO Major Group by
Emile van Essen, Institute for Planetary Synthesis
Dirk-Jan Verdonk, WSPA
Lisinka Ulatowska, Association of World Citizens
not given.
Transport is a commons good in that all people need transport. Therefore people already create
transportation systems to meet their special needs. Governments can encourage this by rewarding local
communities for instituting systems which have a low impact on environmental, species and human
health.
70% of the World Bank's funding for Transportation goes to roads & highways. We need to
begin a planning process to shift to fully sustainable transportation systems. This can include
using alternative economic indicators, tax incentives and use of surcharges and transportation
pricing which takes into account the real cost to human and environmental health (
ursulaproject.org ).We need to increase the level of funding across the board for public
transportation and put mass transit options and non motorized transport in place, giving priority to
investment in their infrastructure and making them the backbone of urban transport systems, this being
the only alternative to the sharply-rising level of motorization in the developing world.
Governments can encourage the shift this through smart urban planning, involving communities in
transportation spending and choices, Congestion Pricing, encouraging Rural Transport Cooperatives as
well as vehicle, equipment and animal sharing; and reimburse bikers at standard personal auto mileage
rate. Planning transportation infrastructure must also be adjusted to remove gender disadvantages and
to reduce impacts on biodiversity. We must also remember that animals and plant species have to
travel too.
The UN Member States have agreed to eliminate unsustainable subsidies for more than 20 years,
which have a profound effect on our transport options and their impacts on the natural environment.
The UN needs to establish either a specific Protocol and/or a Partnership Initiative to support all
countries in phasing out unsustainable subsidies and using the monies saved to invest in sustainable
technologies and practices instead.
The UN and Member States should consider the use of a Cap and Share Programme or Sky Trust under
which each adult could receive a yearly carbon unit p ermit to sell for income, and each year, numbers of
carbon units issued annually to fossil fuel producers is reduced. Over time the permit price will rise as
fossil-free economy emerges. Some of the permits issued can be sold to pay for international activities such
as Carbon Maintenance and Transition Funds. The income for international activities could be about $345
billion a year. (To learn more about Cap and Share Programmes you can go to Feasta.org.)
This report was written for the NGO Major Group by
Emile van Essen, Institute for Planetary Synthesis
Dirk-Jan Verdonk, WSPA
Lisinka Ulatowska, Association of World Citizens