Report of the High-Level Meeting on Transport, Health and Environment on Its Fourth Session

ECE/AC.21/2014/2No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Decision of the Economic Commission for Europe, published in 2014.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What does this mandate say?

80 operative paragraphs

I.Introduction 1–4 3

A.Attendance2–33

B.Opening of the session and organizational matters43

II.General segment 5–12 3

A.Opening statements and handover ceremony5–63

B.Election of officers, adoption of the agenda and introduction to the programme7–94

C.Final negotiation of the Paris Declaration10–114

D.Joint strategic seminar at the Transport Research Arena125

III

Ministerial segment: From Amsterdam to Paris — taking stock of progress on environment- and health-friendly transport and mobility in the pan-European region 13–40 5

A.Welcome and opening statements135

B.THE PEP from 2009–2014: Taking stock of achievements14–195

C.High-level round tables and statements from the floor20–246

D.Presentation of the Paris Declaration: “City in Motion — People First!”….25–297

E.THE PEP Relay Race (staffette): kick-off of new round………………….30–317

F.Launch of THE PEP Partnership on Cycling Promotion…………………32–357

G.Adoption of the Paris Declaration and closing ceremony for the ministerial segment…………………36–408

H.Side events ………………………………………41–428

IV.Bureau segment: Where do we go from here? THE PEP Workplan 2014–2019 43–50 9

A.Twenty-fourth meeting of the Extended Bureau of THE PEP Steering Committee439

B.THE PEP workplan…………………………………………………….449

C.Dates and venues of meetings…………………………………………..45–499

D.Closing of the meeting………………………………………………………509

Annex

Paris Declaration 10

I.Introduction

The Fourth High-level Meeting on Transport, Health and Environment was held on 14 to 16 April 2014 in Paris, hosted by the Government of France. The Meeting was held under the auspices of the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP), administered jointly by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe. It was held concurrently with the Transport Research Arena (TRA), a major international conference on transport research.

A.Attendance

The Meeting was attended by the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America and Uzbekistan.

Representatives of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, as well as the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe, participated in the Meeting. In addition, the following non-governmental organizations were represented: Appel de la Jeunesse; the European Environment and Health Youth Coalition (EEHYC); the European Platform on Mobility Management (EPOMM); the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA); the French Healthy-Cities Network; the International Union of Public Transport; the International Union of Railways (UIC); Polis — European cities and regions networking for innovative transport solutions; and Youth for Public Transport.

B.Opening of the session and organizational matters

The Fourth High-level Meeting was opened by Mr. Daniel Bursaux, General Director for Infrastructure, Transport and the Sea of France on behalf of Mr. Frederic Cuvillier, French State Secretary for Transport, Sea and Fisheries of the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy. Mr. Philippe Maler, Inspector General of the Council for Environment and Sustainable Development, as a representative of the host country, also welcomed the participants and informed them about interpretation and organizational matters.

II.General segment

A.Opening statements and handover ceremony

A handover ceremony “From Amsterdam to Paris” took place to mark the move of the High-level Meeting from Amsterdam, where its third session had taken place in 2009, to Paris. That included a film prepared by the host country showing sustainable urban transport measures and remarks by Ed Kronenburg, Ambassador of the Netherlands to France.

Opening remarks were also made by the Directors of the ECE Transport and Environment Divisions and the Director of the Division of Communicable Diseases, Health, Security and Environment at the WHO Regional Office for Europe.

B.Election of officers, adoption of the agenda and introduction to the programme

The Director of the ECE Environment Division presented the provisional agenda, prepared by the extended Bureau of THE PEP Steering Committee, which was adopted without modification (ECE/AC.21/2014/1–EUDCE1408105/1.6/4HLM/1).

The Director of the ECE Transport Division, noting the tripartite nature of THE PEP, proposed that each session of the High-level Meeting be chaired by the host country, with co-chairs representing each of the three sectors. The meeting elected its chairs accordingly: two Chairs from different sectors in France — Mr. Maler and Mr. Jean-Nicolas Ormsby, Deputy Director of the Risk Assessment Department at the Agency for Food, Environment and Occupational Health and Safety of France; and three co-chairs — Mr. Matthias Rinderknecht of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) (representing the Federal Office of Transport) of Switzerland (the in-coming Chair of THE PEP Steering Committee); Mr. Mihail Kochubovski of the Institute of Public Health of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (present Chair of the Steering Committee); and Mr. Robert Thaler of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management of Austria (the outgoing Chair of the Steering Committee).

The secretariat introduced the programme for the two days, highlighting the importance of the final negotiation and adoption of the Paris Declaration. Participants were informed about the possibility to participate in the TRA at the invitation of the Government of France.

C.Final negotiation of the Paris Declaration

The Chair of the session, Mr. Rinderknecht, introduced the draft Paris Declaration, recalling the process of drafting the Declaration in a series of meetings of the Extended Bureau of THE PEP Steering Committee, as follows: the eighteenth meeting (Geneva, 14–16 November 2012; the nineteenth meeting (Paris, 4–5 April 2013); the twentieth meeting (Copenhagen, 11–12 July 2013); the twenty-first meeting (Geneva, 27–29 November 2013); the twenty-second meeting (Zurich, 30–31 January 2014); and the twenty-third meeting (Vienna, 24–26 February 2014).

The draft Declaration and proposed modifications were then discussed by member States on the basis of document ECE/AC.21/2014/3–EUDCE1408105/1.6/4HLM/3, and a final English text of the Declaration was agreed (Annex).

D.Joint strategic seminar at the Transport Research Arena

A strategic seminar was organized jointly by THE PEP, the International Transport Forum and TRA on the topic of “Urban Innovation and Change: The Dynamic Nexus of Transport, Health and Environment”.

III.Ministerial segment: From Amsterdam to Paris — taking stock of progress on environment- and health-friendly transport and mobility in the pan-European region

A.Welcome and opening statements

The ministerial segment was opened by Mr. Ormsby; Mr Benoit Vallet, Director General of Health, on behalf of Ms. Marisol Touraine, Minister of Social Affairs and Health of France; Ms. Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe; and the Director of the ECE Transport Division, speaking on behalf of Mr. Michael Møller, Acting Executive Secretary of ECE.

B.THE PEP from 2009–2014: Taking stock of achievements

In order to take stock of the achievements of THE PEP since the Amsterdam Declaration in 2009, high-level speakers presented various aspects of the implementation of THE PEP workplan over the past five years, as reflected in four new publications.

Mr. Hauke Fehlberg, Deputy Director of the Federal Office for Territorial Development of Switzerland, presented From Amsterdam to Paris and beyond: the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP) 2009–2020. The publication set out the main achievements of THE PEP under two of the implementation mechanisms begun in Amsterdam: THE PEP Relay Race, a series of capacity-building workshops, and THE PEP Partnerships. The many case studies in the publication showed the ability of THE PEP to provide a unique policy framework to encourage the three sectors to work together through both the workshops and the partnerships.

Mr. Niels Hartwig, Head of Division at the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure of Germany, presented Developing national action plans on transport, health and environment. The publication aimed to provide guidance for member States to develop National Transport, Health and Environmental Action Plans (NTHEAPs) or to integrate transport planning into their existing environment and health action plans.

Mr. Dominique Le Brun, National Cycling Coordinator of France, Mr. Pierre Toulouse, Deputy Coordinator, and Mr. Benoit Hiron of the French Centre for Expertise and Engineering on Risks, Urban and Country Planning, Environment and Mobility (CEREMA), introduced Signs and signals for cyclists and pedestrians, developed by the Government of France, with inputs and support from several member States and THE PEP secretariat. The study highlighted the important gaps in the international harmonization of signs and signals for cyclists and pedestrians. In line with the Paris Declaration, the conclusions of the study would be referred to the ECE Working Party on Road Traffic Safety in order to explore the possibility of developing amendments for the 1968 Convention on Road Signs and Signals.

Mr. Jan Dusik, Director and Regional Representative of the Regional Office for Europe of UNEP, presented Unlocking new opportunities: Jobs in green and healthy transport. The publication was the beginning of work on that topic under THE PEP that had evolved since the earlier publication presented at the Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference in Astana in September 2011. The publication attempted to quantify the potential number of jobs that could be created through the promotion of green and healthy transport policies.

Interventions from the floor were made by representatives of the Czech Republic, Lithuania, the Russian Federation and the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe.

C.High-level round tables and statements from the floor

Two high-level panels were held during the ministerial segment. The first, “City in Motion”, solicited the experiences of the panellists to reflect what kinds of policy mechanisms were needed at the national and municipal levels to adapt legislation, regulation and institutions to support sustainable and healthy urban mobility and transport in the pan-European region. Chaired by Mr. Kochubovski and moderated by Clive Needle of EuroHealthNet, the panel featured the following speakers: Khatuna Gogaladze, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia; Mr. Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, Minister of Health of Lithuania; Mr. Loubinoux, Director General of UIC; and Ms. Susan Pikrallidas, Secretary General for Automobile Mobility and Tourism at FIA.

Interventions from the floor were made by the representatives of Belarus, Norway, Portugal and Romania.

The second panel, “People First”, sought to draw on new research, policy and new actors and stakeholders, such as the media, industry and civil society, to support sustainable and healthy urban transport and mobility that was accessible to all, including youth, the poor, the elderly and people with reduced mobility.

Also moderated by Mr. Needle, the second panel featured the following speakers: Ms. Andrea Arz de Falco, Deputy Director of the Federal Office for Public Health of Switzerland; Ms. Madeleine Mahovsky, Deputy Head of Unit at the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission; Ms. Michele Dix, Managing Director for Planning at Transport for London, United Kingdom; and Mr. Adrian Vasnic, Executive Board member of EEHYC.

Interventions from the floor were made by representatives of Lithuania, Norway and EPOMM.

D.Presentation of the Paris Declaration: “City in Motion — People First!”

THE PEP secretariat presented the Paris Declaration, which had been agreed the previous day in the final negotiation. It was recalled, as noted above, that the Declaration, the main outcome document of the preparatory process leading up to the High-level Meeting, had been developed through a series of drafting and negotiating meetings, open to all interested participants (the Extended Bureau of THE PEP Steering Committee). The draft Declaration had, moreover, been posted on THE PEP website in three languages for public consultation.

The secretariat presented the structure of the Declaration: the “Preamble” positioned the work of THE PEP within the context of relevant global and regional policy frameworks; “Taking stock” was intended to show progress achieved to date; and the “vision” of “Green and Healthy mobility and transport for sustainable livelihoods for all” strengthened the commitment to the priority goals adopted in Amsterdam and enhanced them with a new strategic direction by including a new goal 5, “to integrate transport, health and environmental objectives into urban and spatial planning policies”.

In order to fulfil THE PEP vision, a new implementation mechanism “THE PEP Academy” was agreed by the participants, in addition to the existing mechanisms established in Amsterdam — namely, THE PEP Relay Race, NTHEAPs and THE PEP Partnerships.

THE PEP institutional framework (the Steering Committee, its Bureau and its secretariat) were reaffirmed and the question of the importance of resources was underlined.

Interventions were made by a representative of Latvia, a representative of Lithuania on behalf of the European Environment and Health Ministerial Board and a representative of Serbia in support of the Paris Declaration and its agreed goals and mechanisms.

E.THE PEP Relay Race (staffette): kick-off of new round

The secretariat presented the history of THE PEP Relay Race (staffette), a capacity-building workshop series intended to share knowledge across the pan-European region by passing the “baton” from city to city to share good practices in sustainable and healthy urban mobility and transport and to agree common action points for policymakers to implement an integrated policy approach to transport, health and environment, as described in the publication From Amsterdam to Paris and Beyond: THE PEP 2009–2020.

The representative of Lithuania announced that it would host the first relay race workshop following the High-level Meeting, on 24 and 25 September 2014 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

F.Launch of THE PEP Partnership on Cycling Promotion

As the first step in the implementation of the Paris Declaration, the Government of Austria launched THE PEP Partnership on Cycling Promotion. Andrä Rupprechter, Federal Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management of Austria presented the concept of the Partnership, which would support the development of a Pan-European Master Plan for Cycling Promotion.

Mr. Cuvillier, State Secretary for Transport, Sea and Fisheries of France, welcomed the new Partnership.

Interventions from the floor were made by representatives of the Czech Republic and Serbia in support of the new Partnership, expressing their interest in joining it.

Mr. Rupprechter presented an electric bicycle to Mr. Cuvillier to symbolize the start of the Partnership. He announced that Austria would host the organization of the Fifth High-level Meeting on Transport, Health and Environment in the first half of 2019, when Austria would have the Presidency of the European Union.

G.Adoption of the Paris Declaration and closing ceremony for the ministerial segment

The closing session was chaired by Mr. Ormsby.

Remarks were delivered by Ms. Touraine, Minister of Social Affairs and Health of France, Mr. Cuvillier, State Secretary for Transport, Sea and Fisheries of France, and Ms Jakab, WHO Regional Director, who spoke on behalf of the joint ECE WHO secretariat of THE PEP. The Paris Declaration was then symbolically signed by Ms. Touraine, Mr. Cuvillier, Ms. Jakab, and the Directors of the ECE Transport and Environment Divisions. After the meeting, the Declaration was also signed by Ms. Ségolène Royal, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy of France, who had been unable to attend the signing ceremony in person (Annex).

The Chairs, co-Chairs and the secretariat thanked the hosts for the organization of the Fourth High-level Meeting and the signing of the Declaration, the outcome document, which signified the relaunching of THE PEP through 2019.

In a closing ceremony, representatives of EEHYC announced the winners of the video and photograph competition “City in motion: people first”, as well as the winner of a pedometer competition that had been organized by EEHYC in collaboration with the French youth organization, Appel de la Jeunesse. The three winners were presented with a book and congratulated by the Chairs and participants.

Following the conclusion of the ministerial segment of the High-level meeting, a cycling tour along the Seine River was organized by the hosts to demonstrate the “Velib” bike-sharing scheme and the viability of turning traffic lanes into pedestrian and cycling paths.

H.Side events

To highlight the expanded involvement of stakeholders in THE PEP, two side events were held. The Polis network organized a side event on integrating health into urban transport policies. It highlighted how cities, such as London and Berlin, were addressing public health issues in their transport policies, such as by promoting active travel via the Transport Action Plan in London or by making active travel safer in Berlin. It further enabled a discussion on what was done by city organizations such as Polis and the WHO Healthy Cities Network, with the example of France for the latter, to support their members on that topic.

The second side event was organized by EEHYC on the topic of youth involvement in transport, health and environment. Participants discussed the Paris Declaration and activities that could particularly benefit from a contribution by youth in general and EEHYC in particular. It addressed challenges and enablers in involving young people in the implementation of the Paris Declaration.

IV.Bureau segment: Where do we go from here? THE PEP Workplan 2014–2019

A.Twenty-fourth meeting of the Extended Bureau of THE PEP Steering Committee

The twenty-fourth meeting of the Extended Bureau of THE PEP was held on Wednesday, 16 April 2014, in order to consider the draft workplan of THE PEP for 2014–2019.

B.THE PEP workplan

THE PEP workplan 2014–2019 was considered by the Bureau, which decided to refer the document for further consideration at its twenty-fifth meeting. The workplan would thereafter be submitted to the Steering Committee of THE PEP for discussion and adoption at its twelfth session.

C.Dates and venues of meetings

The twenty-fifth meeting of the Bureau of THE PEP Steering Committee would be held on 26 and 27 June 2014 in Copenhagen at the WHO Regional Office for Europe.

THE PEP Relay Race Workshop Series would be relaunched with a workshop on Sustainable and Healthy Urban Transport and Mobility on 24 and 25 September 2014 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

The twelfth session of the Steering Committee of THE PEP would be held from 19 to 21 November 2014 at WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, beginning with THE PEP 2014 Symposium on the theme of the new Goal 5 of the Paris Declaration. The Steering Committee session would be followed by the twenty-sixth meeting of its Bureau. The twenty-seventh meeting of the Bureau would be held in summer 2015 in Copenhagen.

The thirteenth session of the Steering Committee would be held from 17 to 19 November 2015 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, beginning with THE PEP 2015 Symposium and followed by the twenty-eighth Bureau meeting.

The Fifth High-level Meeting on Transport, Health and Environment would be held in the first half of 2019, hosted by the Government of Austria.

D.Closing of the meeting

The Chairs and co-Chairs thanked the host country, France, for their exceptional hospitality and all participants for their active engagement and commitments to THE PEP process and declared the Bureau Meeting closed.

Annex

Paris Declaration

I.Preamble

II.Taking stock

The Amsterdam Declaration: Making the link - Transport choices for our health, environment and prosperity

Strengthen our commitment to THE PEP as a unique tripartite platform and model for intersectoral policy coordination, international cooperation and exchange of good practice, assisting Governments and other stakeholders to develop and implement sustainable transport policies with a focus on environment and health effects;

Welcome the concrete results achieved by THE PEP, in particular through its relay race workshops and partnerships, as highlighted in the new publications:

•

Developing National Transport, Health and Environment Action Plans (NTHEAPs),

•

From Amsterdam to Paris and Beyond: THE PEP 2009–2014,

•

Jobs in Green and Healthy Transport, and

•

Signs and Signals for Cyclists and Pedestrians; []

Appreciate the active involvement of policymakers and experts in THE PEP activities, particularly in the capacity-building events hosted and supported by several countries, as well as the assistance provided by members of THE PEP Bureau and by several UNECE and WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe) Member States, and the secretariat support provided by UNECE (Transport and Environment Divisions) and WHO/Europe;

III.Defining THE PEP Vision

Green and healthy mobility and transport for sustainable livelihoods for all

Adopt THE PEP Vision as “Green and healthy mobility and transport for sustainable livelihoods for all”;

Agree to intensify our work within the framework of THE PEP to achieve safe, efficient, accessible, affordable, inclusive, green and healthy mobility and transport;

Strengthen our commitment to the four priority goals of THE PEP, as set out in the Amsterdam Declaration adopted at the Third High-level Meeting in 2009:

•

Priority Goal 1: to contribute to sustainable economic development and stimulate job creation through investment in environment- and health-friendly transport

Priority Goal 2: to manage sustainable mobility and promote a more efficient transport system

Priority Goal 3: to reduce emissions of transport-related greenhouse gases, air pollution and noise

Adopt the following new priority goal:

Priority Goal 5: to integrate transport, health and environmental objectives into urban and spatial planning policies

IV.Fulfilling THE PEP Vision

Approaches and mechanisms to enable action

Commit to further strengthening THE PEP implementation mechanisms as the means by which THE PEP workplan 2014–2020 will be implemented, namely through:

Undertake to launch THE PEP Academy linking science, policy and practice, as a new implementation mechanism that capitalizes on the achievements and experiences of THE PEP. The Academy will be a platform to strengthen capacities for integrated transport, health, environment and spatial planning, facilitating the uptake of new knowledge. It will be targeted to key stakeholders, including policy makers, civil servants, practitioners and academics. THE PEP Clearing House will support THE PEP Academy;

Decide to initiate the development of a pan-European Master Plan for Cycling Promotion, supported by guidelines and tools to assist in the development of cycling promotion policies at the national level. This new initiative will be undertaken within the framework of THE PEP partnerships;

Decide to register THE PEP with the United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform to highlight its contributions to the achievement of sustainable development in the context of the follow-up to the Rio+20 Conference;

Welcome THE PEP study “Signs and Signals for Cyclists and Pedestrians” and invite the UNECE Working Party on Road Traffic Safety (WP.1) to consider on this basis possible amendments to the Convention on Road Signs and Signals (Vienna, 1968);

Request THE PEP secretariat to investigate the scope for and to facilitate the development of comprehensive guidelines for assessing transport, spatial and urban planning policies and projects in terms of their impact on health, building on existing frameworks for health and environmental impact assessment;

Undertake to provide national support to subnational and local action as well as to the development of new and stronger partnerships with city networks, civil society organizations and the research community;

Support national and international efforts towards addressing climate change while reducing emissions of air pollutants from the transport sector;

Promote public participation in transport, spatial and urban planning policies and processes;

Welcome the proposal of the European Environment and Health Youth Coalition to become a partner in THE PEP implementation, by mobilizing young people and youth organizations in national and international activities supporting THE PEP;

V.THE PEP institutional framework

Keeping THE PEP on track

Reconfirm the terms of reference of THE PEP Steering Committee, adopted at the Second High-level Meeting on 5 July 2002;

Agree to monitor, through the Steering Committee at its annual sessions, progress in the implementation of THE PEP workplan 2014–2020;

Request UNECE and the WHO/Europe to continue to provide secretariat services to THE PEP and commit ourselves to continue supporting them in this endeavour;

Recognize that the question of a Framework Convention on Transport, Health and Environment has not yet been resolved and invite interested Member States to elaborate proposals for consideration at the Fifth High-level Meeting;

Decide to convene a Fifth High-level Meeting no later than 2020, to review and report on progress achieved in the implementation of THE PEP workplan, to renew or modify THE PEP priority goals and to plan future activities;

VI.Resources

Sharing responsibilities and support for THE PEP

Request the Steering Committee to develop and adopt THE PEP workplan 2014–2020 for implementation of the Paris Declaration;

Undertake to allocate the necessary financial and/or in-kind resources through a system of voluntary contributions, to ensure implementation of THE PEP workplan 2014–2020;

Request THE PEP Steering Committee, in cooperation with THE PEP secretariat, to prepare specific proposals to facilitate the mobilization of resources to support the implementation of THE PEP workplan 2014–2020.

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