Seven major public transport companies have signed up to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s personal challenge to UITP members to show their climate leadership at September’s UN Climate Summit in New York. 

By signing up to the UITP Declaration of Climate Leadership, MoBiel (Bielefeld), RATP (Paris), RET (Rotterdam), STIB (Brussels), MVG (Munich), Ustra (Germany) and TFGM (Manchester), want to show that they plan to set low CO2 emissions as the new standard for public transport. They are united in reducing CO2 emissions through more environmentally friendly business behaviour and changes in infrastructure which will help people shift to sustainable low carbon transport. 

Fewer cars and more public transport create better, liveable and sustainable urban environments and will make it possible to stabilise urban transport greenhouse gas emissions while still meeting our urban mobility needs. The good thing is that there are a lot of positive examples from around the world and the declaration aims to showcase what UITP members will do to make their cities even more attractive, competitive and rejuvenated in the years to come at the UN Summit. 

Our responsibility to act 

UITP members are invited to tell the UN in September how they plan to support their city by reducing their own carbon emissions or delivering long-term improvements that will bring about a shift to low carbon urban transport. This will give visibility to their efforts and help show the world that public transport is united with a common aim: making cities better places to live and work! 

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon is calling UITP for concrete action: “I urge members of the International Association of Public Transport to bring bold pledges to the Summit. Innovate scale up, cooperate and deliver concrete action that can help close the emissions gap and put us on track to support a meaningful global climate agreement in 2015”. 

The more commitments we receive from you, the stronger UITP’s message will be. 

Take up that challenge, sign up to the declaration here and submit your plan of action. 

For more information, please contact Philip Turner, philip.turner(at)uitp.org 

Photo: Munich/Flickr John Morgan