Speech by the Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment, Melanie Schultz van Haegen, at the conference ‘Keep Moving towards Sustainable Mobility’, Rotterdam, 10 October 2012

Toespraak | 12-10-2012

Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to Rotterdam: the largest seaport in Europe and ‘The Gateway to Europe’.

Every day, more than one million tons of goods arrive at and leave this place.
They are on their way to 350 million consumers.
In a Dutch TV programme, this port was once referred to as ‘the hungry jaws’ of this continent.
Although it sounds a bit fearful, I think this is a fitting description.

This port can only be a real gateway, or for that matter, the hungry jaws of Europe, if all those goods arrive at their destination on time.  

And if all the people who work here are able to arrive at work and at home on time.
A flourishing economy cannot exist without healthy mobility.

Of course, this applies not only to Rotterdam, but to all of Europe.
And it applies not only today, but tomorrow and the years that follow.

So what will mobility be like tomorrow?
Or, to put it better, in 2050?
This is not an easy question to answer.
Because we don’t have a crystal ball to look thirty-eight years into the future.
After all, thirty-eight years ago (in 1974) we didn’t know what the world would be like today.  

We don’t know exactly how the world will change. 
But we are absolutely certain about a few developments.

First: the volume of our mobility will continue to increase.
It might double in the next forty (40) years.

Second: our stocks of fossil fuels are being exhausted.

And third: mobility must not come at the expense of our environment.
Clean air, for example, is of vital importance to everyone.

To keep up the pace, we have a lot of work to do.
Our modes of transport and our behaviour must be in line with a changing world.

As EU Member States we have agreed to reduce emissions of CO2 by 80 to 95% in the next forty years.

This is an enormous task.
But also a necessary one.
‘Sustainability’ should be the keyword in all our plans and policies.
It applies to all modes of transport:
In the air.
On our roads and railroads.
And in our seaways and waterways.

We have to invest in cleaner fuels and cleaner modes of transport.

In the Netherlands, the first inland navigation vessels and lorries on the road have started sailing using a cleaner fuel: Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

The number of electric cars is also growing.
By 2025, 1 out of every 8 Dutch cars should be electric.[1]
I expect the first hydrogen-powered car to be on our roads in two years’ time.  

The Korean car manufacturer Hyundai will deliver the first thousand hydrogen-powered cars for the European market in the coming year.
Experts call it an ‘accelerated evolution’.

Yet all this is just part of the solution.
It’s not just about our modes of transport.
I’s about innovation and new technologies as well.

The world of ICT changes every day.
New technologies in and involving our modes of transport will soon make much more possible.
Like Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), on-board computers and all kinds of sensors.

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[1] Target: 20,000 in 2015, 200,000 in 2020 and 1 million in 2025.

In addition, a changing world means we have to think, travel and transport differently.

Soon, the question will no more be:
should I go to work by car, public transport or, to stay with the Dutch example, by bike?
Or: will I have my goods transported by sea container or by plane?

But rather: what is, right now, the best combination of times, places and modes of transport?

To be able to make these choices on a daily basis, we need optimal information on travel and transport.
Information quickly and easily available on our iPhones or iPads.

This requires bold steps from governments and transporters.
Often, they own this information.
But we need to have it publicly accessible from now on.
This can be difficult at times, because letting go is painful.
But more than that, it is inevitable.

So to me sustainable mobility involves three main components:

cleaner transport,
new technologies and
changed behaviour.

To ensure that we keep moving, we must invest in these three components more.

However, we must resist the temptation to look at government first.
Because the days in which governments had all the answers are over.
Today, it’s about cooperation between all the stakeholders: companies, people (travellers) and yes, governments.

So what can governments do?
We can bring stakeholders together and find and share knowledge.
But most of all, governments should fan the flames, so the market has room to create.
Because true innovation comes from entrepreneurs who dare and do.

Of course, this is not just a Dutch issue.
It involves the whole of Europe and even the whole world.
Europeans need to collaborate and join forces, to make our mobility more sustainable.

That is why my Ministry will produce a Road Map that helps us to reach these goals by 2050.   
It explores the issues and opportunities in the next thirty-eight years.

As Minister, I am providing direction and helping entrepreneurs and other authorities to do what they are best at.
And I am ensuring that we are on the right path.

I would like to do this together with you, our European partners.
Because, although 2050 seems far away, it is getting closer all the time.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let’s use these two days to keep up the momentum.
I hope that this special environment will provide the necessary inspiration.

Because, you may not know that Rotterdam is the most ambitious Dutch city as far as sustainable mobility is concerned.

Here, CO2 emissions should be reduced by half by 2025.[1]

Rotterdam is one of the 40 cities that lead the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

So it is the perfect venue for this conference.

I hope it will be very successful.

Thank you and bon appétit.

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[1] Compared to 1990.