Rio+20 Voluntary Commitment| Lea Correa Pinto

Rio+20 is a conference about implementation, and an important part of that is making and delivering commitments. All participants at Rio+20 are therefore encouraged to make voluntary commitments to deliver concrete results for sustainable development. Commitments are invited from various stakeholders, including business and industry, other Major Group organizations, associations, academic institutions, philanthropic organizations, UN entities, partnerships involving more than one stakeholder, and Member States. These will be compiled into an online compendium of commitments on the Rio+20 website.

You can read more about the Rio+20 Voluntary Commitment process at:http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/voluntarycommitments.html.

The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) welcomes the initiative by several of its members as well as other organizations to develop Voluntary Commitments related to Sustainable Transport. Such Voluntary Commitments support and give meaning to the campaign of SLoCaT to ensure that the Rio+20 conference will act as a catalyst for the scaling up and mainstreaming of sustainable transport in developing and emerging economies. The width and breadth of the Voluntary Commitments on Transport that are being developed reinforce the need for, and potential of a dedicated Sustainable Development Goal on Sustainable Transport.

SLoCaT will, together with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and other SLoCaT members present in Rio in June provide active outreach on these Voluntary Commitments on Sustainable Transport. We will celebrate these as a sign of how far the sustainable transport community has come since the World Summit on Sustainable Development and as sign of hope on what we as a community will do to implement the spirit and outcomes of Rio+20. Collectively, these voluntary commitments will cover all major aspects of sustainable transport and reach out to all parts of the world.

Please let us know if you would also like to submit a Voluntary Commitment on Sustainable Transport so that we can add you to the list.

Currently we expect to have the following Voluntary Commitments:

1) Joint statement and commitment on the promotion of sustainable transport by Multilateral Development Banks through Financial and Technical Assistance. To be submitted by Asian Development Bank (ADB), Latin-American Development Bank (CAF), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and World Bank.

2) Protecting children from traffic injuries on urban roads. To be submitted by FIA Foundation and a range of partners.

3) Promote the development and implementation of Global Fuel Economy standards and measures. To be submitted by FIA Foundation, International Council for Clean Transport (ICCT), International Energy Agency (IEA), International Transport Forum (ITF), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

4) Promoting and supporting the development and implementation of policies and legislation on lower sulphur standards for diesel and gasoline fuels. To be submitted by United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and Members of the Partnership on Clean Fuels and Vehicles.

5) Rolling out of road assessment program to enhance road safety. To be submitted by International Road Assessment Program (IRAP).

6) Cycling Inclusive Urban Transport. To be submitted by Dutch Cycling Embassy and partners.

7) Promoting Urban Transport and Urban Design Principles and Fostering Their Wider Application. To be submitted by Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and partners.

Sustainable transport in 100/150 cities. To be submitted by UN-HABITAT.

9) Convening high (policy) level Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forums. To be submitted by United Nations Center for Regional Development (UNCRD)/ United Nations Department for Economic and Social Development (UN DESA), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), World Bank (WB) and supporting organizations.

10) Capacity Building for Sustainable Transport. To be submitted by German International Cooperation (GIZ)

11) Green Freight. To be submitted by Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) and Sustainable Supply Chain Center Asia Pacific (SSCCAP)

We are starting to have a good overview of the transport events at Rio+20. Please go to http://www.slocat.net/sites/default/files/slocatfiles/events/overview_ri…

with best regards,
Cornie