On December 6, Instituto Clima e Sociedade – iCS, along with the German Embassy in Brazil and IEMA – Instituto de Energia e Meio Ambiente (Energy and Environment Institute), organized the “International Meeting on Decarbonization of Transportation”, in Brasília. This was the second event in the “Dialogues for a Sustainable Future” series, created as a partnership between iCS and the Embassy. The event had 105 participants and live Youtube streaming .
The transportation sector accounts for a significant share of total greenhouse gas emissions and it is one of the sectors that is more often the target of decarbonization efforts in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted under the Paris Agreement. During the event, the participants discussed experiences and strategies, highlighting Brazil’s commitments and the reduction of emissions in urban mobility and in the cargo sector.
Ana Toni, the executive director of iCS and a facilitator of the opening table, stressed that more than 77% of transportation in Brazil is still individual and prioritizes fossil fuels – a number that demonstrates the role played by the sector in terms of emissions and the great opportunity for change. “It’s not so much a matter of reducing current emissions, but of avoiding future emissions, thinking of a new development model. There is a lack of integration of public policies in the area of transportation and research. We must look for solutions that go beyond technological and fuel changes. Those are critical matters, but they are not enough. We have to look for integration plans between modes of transportation and energy efficiency”, she said.
Germany’s experience was described by Georg Witschel, the European country’s ambassador to Brazil. According to him, the major goal pursued in Germany is to replace fossil fuel supply with renewable energy sources. This, he says, is an important point of analysis for Brazil: addressing climate protection means moving ahead in a number of sectors, not just reducing deforestation. In a scenario of changes of this magnitude, private enterprises have a fundamental role to play.
“New development means great challenges that must be faced by our companies, but, on the other hand, it also brings about countless possibilities. Anyone who bravely stands in the vanguard has a great chance of conquering the market in the future. New jobs will be created with innovative offers on community and freight transportation. In Germany, we want to reduce emissions by between 40% and 42% by 2030. Although we have a difficult road ahead of us, we are hopeful that we will be able to achieve this goal”, he said.
According to André Ferreira, the CEO of IEMA, an iCS grantee, the NDCs have a common approach, focused on reducing the number of vehicles, in a search for new technologies and fuels, but they fail to properly address the patterns of displacement of passengers and goods.
“The focus on vehicle technology rather than on a shift of modes of transportation and on a reduction in travel demand needs to be deepened. In 2016, we reached 48% of emissions from transportation. Therefore, after deforestation, transportation is undoubtedly a major challenge in Brazil. Half of these emissions are generated from passenger transportation, while the other half corresponds to freight transportation in Brazil – trucks alone generate almost twice as much emissions as electricity generation”, he concluded.
Currently, according to André, Brazil does not have a long-term public plan for energy and transportation, only the 10-year plan and the integrated national logistics plan, both of which have little articulation with other sectors. It is of fundamental importance to integrate Public Power, private sector and civil society to find solutions together, and events like this work to promote dialogue and discuss new actions and strategies.
During the day, three panels were also held, with the following topics and panelists:
International Experiences in Decarbonization of Transportation
Harry Lehmann, Managing Director of the German Federal Environment Service (Umweltbundesamt)
José Gomes Mendes, Assistant Secretary of State for the Environment of Portugal and of the Alliance for the Decarbonization of Transportation – TDA
Carolina Tohá, Former Mayor of Santiago, Chile, and Co-Chair of the UN General Secretary’s High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport – UNSG
Carmen Araújo, Consultant with The International Council on Clean Transportation – icct
Proposals to Decarbonize Brazilian Transportation
Martha Martorelli, Planning Manager, National Office of Urban Mobility, Brazilian Ministry of Cities
Clarisse Linke, Executive Director of the Institute for Transport and Development Policies – ITDP Brasil
Juan Pablo Mikan Pizano, Technical Advisor of the Planning and Logistics Company – EPL
Walter Figueiredo de Simoni, Coordinator of the Urban Mobility Portfolio of Instituto Clima e Sociedade – iCS.
Trends, Technologies and Innovations in Decarbonization of Transportation
Holger Dalkmann, Senior Consultant, Agora Transports (Verkehrswende)
Leandro Siqueira, Director of Product Development and Portfolio Management at Volkswagen/MAN
Plínio Nastari, Chairman of DATAGRO, Sugar and Ethanol Market Analysis
Aline Cavalcanti, Cycling activist and Coordinator of the Climate and Active Mobility Coalition, CCMob
Final Lecture
Eimair Bottega Ebeling, Director of the Department of Policy and Integrated Planning, Ministry of Transportation, Ports and Civil Aviation
Click on the links below to download the materials:
Carolina Tohá_Plan Integral de Movilidad Sostenible de Santiago
HLehmann – Transport Decarbonisation
Holger Dalkmann_Towards an International Verkehrswende
André Ferreira_IEMA_Desafios para a Descarbonização dos Transportes no Brasil e o Acordo de Paris
Aline Cavalcante_Papel dos transportes ativos na redução de emissões dos transportes
ITDP – Clarisse Linke – Propostas para descarbonizar o transporte
