Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very pleased to
welcome you today to the first session
of the Steering Committee for the implementation
of the Transport, Health and Environment
Pan-European Programme, THE PEP. Last
July I had the honour of addressing the
2nd High-level Meeting on Transport, Environment
and Health, which established this Programme
and adopted the Terms of Reference for
this Committee. In line with the Ministers
and high-level representatives from the
three sectors and relevant international
organizations that gathered in Geneva,
I am convinced that THE PEP is an appropriate
means for making progress towards transport
sustainable for health and the environment
in the region and should therefore provide
a strategic framework and an operational
basis for future work to this end within
the UNECE and WHO/Euro.
The mandate given to
this Committee is very much in line with
the discussions at the annual session
of the Economic Commission for Europe
one month ago as regards the regional
implementation of the Johannesburg Summit
on Sustainable Development. The regional
implementation of Agenda 21 should include
UNECE's already well-developed activities
in the field of sustainable development,
including cross-sectoral work for sustainable
transport. The fifth Environment for Europe
Ministerial Conference, which will be
held in Kiev on 21-23 May, will also be
discussing issues with relevance to transport,
environment and health. They include adoption
of the Environment Strategy for the Countries
of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central
Asia as well as the adoption and signature
of the Strategic Environmental Assessment
protocol to the UNECE Convention on Environmental
Impact Assessment in a Transboundary context,
which provides opportunities for countries
to assess the environmental and health
impact of transport plans, programmes
and policies.
THE PEP presents features
which are unique, progressive and challenging,
and which, as I see it, represent the
key elements for achieving successful
results in this area.
The first of these features
is the involvement, on an equal basis,
of the main actors and key stakeholders
representing the transport, environment
and health sectors, both at the national
and international levels, for finding
solutions to common concerns. Well-balanced
transport policies and decisions on transport
that take full account of environment
and health concerns indeed imply the full
and active engagement of the three sectors
working together. Such close cross-sectoral
cooperation will be promoted by the Steering
Committee, its Bureau and its ad hoc task
forces as well as through the network
of national focal points for THE PEP.
Secondly, THE PEP sets
a unique example of cooperation among
international organizations as well as
with other stakeholders. UNECE and WHO/Euro
joined forces to service the Programme
together and strive furthermore to improve
coordination and cooperation with other
organizations active in the fields of
transport, environment and health. In
addition, partnerships between Governments,
local authorities, the business community
and NGOs are encouraged to implement the
activities under the Programme. These
efforts are, to my mind, very valuable
in order to increase the visibility, quality
and the impact of the work carried out
by avoiding duplication of efforts, maximising
synergies and optimising the use of the
very limited resources available both
at national and international levels.
Thirdly, I particularly
appreciate the focused and action oriented
approach chosen for the implementation
of THE PEP. I am convinced that by concentrating
our joint efforts and available resources
on the implementation of specific and
concrete activities in a few carefully
selected key priority areas we will reach
successful results.
The four important project
proposals on your agenda could provide
a very promising starting point for the
efficient implementation of the Programme.
I wish to express my highest appreciation
and gratitude to those countries whose
financial and in-kind contributions will
make it possible for this Committee to
work for the implementation of these activities.
First of all, the two
secretariats have already established
a new website for THE PEP and further
steps have been made to develop an ambitious
clearing house on transport, environment
and health. Such a clearing house will
provide easy access to information and
may ultimately be used as an interactive
tool for the exchange of information and
good practices throughout the region.
Secondly, you will be
focusing on a key priority area, that
is urban transport, and you will discuss
a strategic approach for integrating urban
transport management with land use-planning,
environmental and health policies.
A third activity on your
agenda is very challenging, but of utmost
importance for the development of sustainable
transport, as it aims at evaluating the
costs of transport related health and
environment effects.
The fourth and final
project before you contains an activity
that is a precondition for monitoring
the progress on integration of environment
and health concerns into transport policy
throughout the region. This project proposes
to extend the relevant indicators and
reporting systems on transport and the
environment to cover fully also its health
aspects. The project will also include
the Newly Independent States and South-east
European countries that have so far not
yet been covered in this respect.
In this context, allow
me to support the request of the High-level
Meeting to pay particular attention to
the specific needs and problems of the
countries with economies in transition
in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central
Asia in the implementation of THE PEP.
The long-term sustainability of the transport
sector in this sub-region raises particularly
serious concerns that need to be addressed
on a priority basis. Ensuring active participation
and involvement of representatives from
these countries in the implementation
work is therefore essential.
Finally, it goes without
saying that the Programme must be backed
up with an adequate financial basis for
the implementation of its activities and
to allow the participation in them of
transition countries. The features that
I have pointed out to you show the great
potential of THE PEP to make real progress
in achieving sustainable transport goals
region wide. However, it is understood
that this potential can only be fully
used through sound political commitment
and financial means from the countries
of the region. The financial contributions
from Finland and the Netherlands to THE
PEP trust fund, the offer by Cyprus to
host a workshop on urban planning and
the initiative of Austria, France, Malta,
the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland
on health costs give a very positive sign
of such a commitment for an efficient
implementation of the THE PEP which, I
hope, will also be shared by many others.
I wish you success in
your deliberations and should like to
stress the strong commitment of the UNECE
secretariat to contribute to this work.
Thank you very much for
your attention.
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