Press Releases 1997

[Index]

TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT: GREEN LIGHT FOR COOPERATION

18 November 1997

Vienna hosted first get-together of transport and environment ministers

Three hundred delegates from 40 European countries, the European Commission and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations took part in the first Regional Conference on Transport and the Environment organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) in cooperation with the Government of Austria in Vienna from 12 to 14 November 1997. "What makes this Conference so special is that transport ministers and environment ministers have met for the first time at the international level and come to the same conclusion: it cannot go on like this!" stressed Mr. Yves Berthelot, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe at the close of the Conference.

As one of the keynote speakers to the Conference pointed out, if present trends continue and there is no change in policy, freight transport will expand by 70% in the European Union alone over the next 25 years. This transport will be mainly by road, increasing the market share of this mode of transport from the current 70% to more than 80% by 2010. If, moreover, the expected 40% increase in car traffic also materializes, congestion and pollution will get completely out of hand. "There is an urgent need to decouple transport and economic growth, as was done with energy in the 1970s," emphasized Mr. Berthelot.

The Conference adopted a political Declaration and a Programme of Joint Action, which provide a comprehensive set of strategies and measures to cope with the environmental problems caused by transport. The Conference was also the occasion for a number of UN/ECE countries to sign two international legally binding instruments in the field of transport also aimed at improving its environmental performance.

In all 35 countries signed the political Declaration on Transport and the Environment: Armenia; Austria; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; France; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Malta; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russian Federation; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; Ukraine; and United Kingdom. The Declaration includes commitments related to: strategies to achieve sustainable transport; the protection of sensitive areas; the promotion of sustainable urban transport systems; the prevention of water pollution by vessels, including from loading and trans-shipment facilities, and the prevention of surface and ground water pollution by all transport modes. Countries reaffirmed their commitment to these goals and agreed to cooperate within the UN/ECE framework to implement policy measures as set out in the Programme of Joint Action to take this work forward.

Twenty-two countries signed the Agreement concerning the Adoption of Uniform Conditions for Periodical Technical Inspections of Wheeled Vehicles and the Reciprocal Recognition of such Inspections: Austria; Belgium; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; France; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Netherlands; Portugal; Romania; Russian Federation; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Ukraine; and United Kingdom. The Agreement, drawn up under the auspices of the UN/ECE by government experts in close cooperation with non-governmental organizations representing the car manufacturing industry, the transport industry and the users, aims to create the uniform framework conditions for carrying out periodic technical inspections of road vehicles in use in all European countries.

All together 12 countries signed a Protocol on combined transport on inland waterways to the European Agreement on Important International Combined Transport Lines and Related Installations (AGTC) of 1991: Austria; Czech Republic; Denmark; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Italy; Netherlands; Portugal; Romania; and Switzerland. The objective of the Protocol, also prepared by a group of experts under the auspices of UN/ECE, is to emphasize the importance that European Governments give to the development of combined transport infrastructures and services on European inland waterways and coastal routes so as to promote the transfer of part of road transport to those waterways and routes, thereby reducing the transport sector’s environmental impact. The Protocol will also provide a multilateral legal framework for promoting the use of combined transport techniques (containers, swap-bodies, semi-trailers, trucks) on European inland waterways and coastal routes.

The Conference also endorsed draft amendments to the existing European Agreement of 1971 supplementing the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic. When entered into force, these amendments will have a significant impact on the environmental performance of heavy commercial vehicles in international traffic. Indeed, these vehicles will have to conform to the international requirements concerning pollutant emissions and noise in force at the time of their manufacture and in addition will have to be in good order, i.e. to undergo technical inspections concerning those pollutant emissions and noise once a year.

Several other countries have expressed their intention to sign these agreements in the coming weeks.

The statements made during the Conference showed that, even though the situation in some countries was tough, solutions did exist and were being applied. It was paramount to share experience at the international level and above all take international concerted action, as certain actions could not be taken by countries in isolation but had to be decided at the international level.

The Conference heard a number of in-depth analyses of the situation and was able to benefit from the experiences and ideas of the many keynote speakers (see Annex).

"The UN/ECE Conference on Transport and the Environment has been a success not only because of the signing of important documents, or the number of delegates who attended, but mainly because there was a genuine willingness on all sides to start working together. The time of environment and transport people having contradictory and seemingly irreconcilable interests is over," concluded Mr. Berthelot. "During these three days in Vienna a process has been set in motion and nothing will be able to stop it, because the survival of our society is at stake".

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Annex

Some of the keynote speakers were:

Mr. M. Bartenstein, Minister for the Environment, Youth and Family Affairs (Austria); Mr. C. Einem, Minister for Science and Transport (Austria); Mr. K. Lotz, Minister of Transport, Communications and Water Management (Hungary); Mr. N. Menzir, Minister of Transport (Turkey); Mr. J. Jasovsky, Minister for Transport and Telecommunications (Slovakia); Mrs. T. Skogsholm, State Secretary, Ministry of Transport (Norway); Mr. N. Kinnock, Commissioner for Transport, European Commission; Mrs. A. Lindh, Minister of Environment (Sweden); Mr. G. Strang, Minister for Transport at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (United Kingdom); Mr. M. Leuenberger, Federal Counsellor, Head of the Federal Department of Transport, Communications and Energy (Switzerland); Mr. Y. Levy, Minister of Transport (Israel); Mr. A. Mantelis, Minister of Transport and Communications (Greece); Mr. P. Gantar, Minister of the Environment and Physical Planning (Slovenia); Mrs. A. Jorritsma-Lebbink, Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management (Netherlands); Mrs. I. Uusman, Minister of Transport and Communications (Sweden); Mr. J. Korpela, Secretary-General, Ministry of Transport and Communications (Finland); Mrs. K. Szili, Political Secretary of State, Ministry for Environment and Regional Policy (Hungary); Mr. T. Szozda, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Transport and Maritime Economy (Poland); Mr. D. Wallace, Secretary of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Ireland); Mr. S. Auken, Minister of the Environment and Energy (Denmark); Mr. J. W. Simonsen, State Secretary, Ministry of Environment (Norway); Mrs. D. Voynet, Minister of the Environment and Land Use Planning (France); Mr. T. Basescu, Minister of Transport (Romania); Mr. Y. I. Kostenko, Minister for Environmental Protection and Nuclear Safety (Ukraine); Mr. Z. Luzavec, Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Communications (Croatia); Mr. N. Tchah, Minister of Transport (Russian Federation); Mr. A. Bergauer, Minister of Transport and Communications (Slovenia); Mr. J. Skalicky, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment. (Czech Republic); Mr. P. Tabakov, Deputy Minister of Transport (Bulgaria); Mr. J. Zlocha, Minister of the Environment (Slovakia); Mr. H. Maillard, Counsellor, Ministry of Communications and Infrastructure (Belgium).