Statement by the State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, Stientje van Veldhoven, ‘Launch of ITF’s Transport Climate Action Directory’ ITF Online Webinar

Toespraak | 03-07-2020

Secretary-General Kim, ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for having me in this online webinar.

It’s a pleasure to participate and say a few words about the launch of ITF’s Transport Climate Action Directory.
As State Secretary, I’m responsible for both sustainable transport and the environment in the Netherlands.

But it’s a global issue.
And there’s a lot at stake.
Worldwide, transport accounts for 20 per cent of carbon emissions.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a temporary fall in carbon emissions from transport, but we expect them to quickly rebound…
…unless we seize the opportunity created by this pandemic to make structural changes.
Climate mitigation in transport is an enormous challenge.
And we have no time to lose.
We can’t achieve our climate ambitions without decarbonising transport.

The Netherlands is ambitious:
We have a broad-based National Climate Agreement, with ambitious goals:
a 49 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, compared to 1990 levels;
at least 7.3 megatonnes fewer carbon emissions by the transport sector by 2030;
from 2030, all new cars sold will be zero-emission;
30 or 40 larger municipalities will have medium-sized zero-emission zones for urban logistics by 2025;
up to 1.7 million public, semi-public and private charging points by 2030 – 10 times the current capacity of our charging infrastructure.

National ambitions are important, of course.
But the transport sector is a global playing field. It needs ambition, action and strategies on a global scale.
Therefore I would like to compliment Secretary-General Young Tae Kim and the ITF team!
Your efforts are of great value for the international dialogue!
The Decarbonising Transport initiative and the Ministers’ Roundtables on Transport and Climate at the ITF Summits set agendas and provide knowledge and platforms for discourse.

Last year I participated in the ITF Summit in Leipzig, where I urged the parties to act, go forward together and accelerate efforts to achieve our goal.
In the Joint Statement of the Ministers’ Roundtable on Transport and Climate we considered the development of transport-related climate change mitigation actions as an urgent matter.
This is what I’m striving for in the Transport Decarbonisation Alliance – or TDA for short.
It’s a unique collaboration between countries, regions, cities and companies.
Frontrunners are sharing knowledge and working together to tackle barriers to a zero-emission transport system before 2050.

The call for zero-emission freight vehicles is a great example:
Already, 80 organisations have endorsed the call, covering 263,687 zero-emission freight vehicles in total. A strong message to suppliers. And we’re just getting started.
The launch of the ITF Transport Climate Action Directory marks a big new step in its Decarbonising Transport initiative.
This catalogue, with over 60 examples of mitigation measures, will help us to turn ambitions into concrete actions faster. And the catalogue is growing all the time.
It’s this kind of collaborative effort we need!

Ladies and gentlemen,
I’d like to conclude with some remarks about cycling.
I’m happy to see that cycling infrastructure is also mentioned in the catalogue.
Windmills might be the first thing to come to mind when you hear my country’s name. But bicycles would be more obvious.

We have more bicycles in the Netherlands than people. With good reason.
Cycling is healthy, efficient, clean and safe – provided the infrastructure is in order.
In the Netherlands we’re working hard to further improve our cycling policy and cycling infrastructure.
One of our goals – even before COVID-19 – is to increase bicycle commuting. E-bikes have increased the distances that commuters can travel by bicycle.
During this pandemic we’ve also seen the bicycle being discovered as a serious alternative to other transport modes in many cities all over the world.
We should use this ‘momentum’ in the ITF’s Transport Climate Action Directory to promote cycling.
The launch of the ITF Transport Climate Action Directory today, marks a new step towards decarbonising transport.  
Let’s work together on ambition, acceleration and action in this decade of change.
Together we can make this transformation in transport irreversible.

Again, congratulations to Secretary-General Kim and his team on the launch of the Transport Climate Action Directory!
Thank you.