Political leaders must step-up delivery on sustainable mobility in Europe

President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), Markku Markkula, has called on local and regional political leaders to step-up support for sustainable mobility.

Addressing EU ministers for transport and environment at an informal meeting focussed on green mobility, President Markkula said it was “unacceptable that urban transport is the only sector where emissions are still rising,” and called on leaders to show the way on delivering sustainable mobility.

“Every year car pollution causes 75,000 premature deaths. This number is even less acceptable by the fact that today urban transport is the only sector in the EU where greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise”, said the CoR President.

As current efforts do not seem to be enough to reverse these trends, President Markkula suggests strengthening cooperation between all levels of government to find a coherent response to this challenge: “Europe’s regions and cities are fully committed to reducing pollution and creating sustainable communities, but we need an integrated approach to urban mobility. This means streamlining all EU policies and investment so that they support local and regional governments in moving towards truly sustainable city living. This can only be achieved if local and regional political leaders shape EU transport and environmental decisions: this model of governance is the basis of the EU Urban Agenda which will be launched at the end of May in Amsterdam”, he said.

Strengthen cooperation between all levels of government to deliver sustainable mobility

In addition, the President also called for stronger promotion of co-modality, together with better use of available assistance and financing tools, including those set up by the European Investment Bank.

Calling for all new vehicles to be zero-emission-capable by 2035, Sharon Dijksma, Dutch Minister for the Environment, said, “Let’s not lose sight of the opportunities these emission reductions will present for green growth and new jobs in Europe. Studies by the European Climate Foundation show that greening mobility will lead to 700,000 new jobs by 2025.”

Agreeing with the Dutch Minister, President Markkula added: We need more bottom-up action to drive urban renewal. For example, a metro extension project in Helsinki-Espoo, Finland, has significantly improved the whole urban ecosystem. Smart mobility means smart investment – we need to make use of all funding available, including EU Structural Funds, and to attract private sector investment. This will be the focus of our Summit in Bratislava on 8-9 July at the start of the Slovak EU Presidency”.

How to make mobility and transport smarter in European cities will be among the main issues on the agenda of the High-Level Forum on the EU Urban Agenda to be held by the CoR in Amsterdam on 30 May 2016.