In January 2012, Secretary General (SG) Ban Ki-moon announced that the post-2015 framework for sustainable development would be an important priority in the Action Agenda for his second term. Transport was listed as one of six building blocks for sustainable development.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (20 June, 2012)—The eight largest multilateral development banks (MDBs) announced today that they will invest US$175 billion to finance more sustainable transportation systems over the coming decade, boosting equitable economic development and protecting the environment and public health across the developing world. The pledge by the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and six other MDBs was made at the start of United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (also known as Rio+20).

The Better Air Quality conference (BAQ) will be held in Hong Kong from 5 to 7 December 2012. The BAQ 2012 on  “Growing Cities, Healthy Cities” is reflecting on the challenge of creating livable cities with blue skies and a low carbon footprint in the face of increasing urbanization, and ensuring that people’s health is no longer affected by poor air quality. The BAQ conference is the flagship event of CAI-Asia. This biennial event brings leading experts, policy and decision makers together to network, learn and share experiences on air quality management.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region. With a membership of 62 Governments, 58 of which are in the region, and a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south, ESCAP is the most comprehensive of the United Nations five regional commissions.

Three new reports build on the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s work with government and civil society on reforming fossil-fuel subsidies. Led by the IISD’s Global Subsidies Initiative, these studies shed light on the scale and impacts of fossil-fuel subsidies in Bangladesh, India and Indonesia, and provide practical advice on strategies for reform.

The Netherlands Mission to the United Nations organizes a UN Bike Ride on June 8th to promote bicycling as a means of sustainable low carbon urban transport in light of the upcoming Conference on Sustainable Development that will take place in Rio de Janeiro end of June.

The International Road Federation (IRF) is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organisation with the mission to encourage and promote development and maintenance of better, safer and more sustainable roads and road networks.  The participating organizations are working nationally and internationally to prevent road traffic injuries.

The Global Fuel Economy Initiative announced the start of its second three year effort to improve vehicle fuel economy around the world at the International Transport Forum in Leipzig. Furthermore the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has joined the partnership.

The Atlantic Cities recently published an article on the question Why Young Americans are Driving So Much Less Than Their Parents?  It focuses on the study Transportation and the New Generation – Why young people are driving less and what it means for transportation policy.

This american study points out that young people making more use of transit, bikes, and foot power to get around than the generation before. Furthermore the two main findings about young people and driving is:

China’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the China Road Transport Association (CRTA) launched the China Green Freight Initiative (CGFI) in Beijing. The CGFI aims to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions of China’s truck fleets.