New York, USA- July 18, 2016

The Division for Sustainable Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP), organized the first 2016 Partnership Exchange event on 18 July 2016 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on the occasion of the 2016 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).  In line with the theme of this year’s HLPF, the theme for the 2016 Partnership Exchange is “Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals through multi-stakeholder partnerships – ensuring that no one is left behind”.

The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) was represented at the Partnership Exchange by Ramon Cruz, International Policy Program Manager of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP). In his statement, Cruz emphasized the urgency to act on sustainable mobility solutions now, as Asia is developing rapidly, Africa is poised for rapid growth, cities are growing quickly and there are large unmet mobility needs in rural areas.  Cruz stated that cost effective solutions – such as integrated land use and transport planning, which can create more compact cities and reduce demand for transport – are available and ripe for implementation. 

Cruz explained that while transport is not a sustainable development goal by itself, sustainable mobility is key to ensuring the success of the 2030 Global Agenda.  He also underlined that the HLPF can contribute to the Global Agenda by putting in place improved and strengthened institutional arrangements to support accelerated, co-ordinated action on sustainable transport across the globe.

The full-text of Ramon Cruz’s stament can be accessed here.