‘Worldwide 25% Of Emissions Come From Transportation’

“Worldwide 25 per cent of emissions come from transportation”,, said Maria Mendiluce, Managing Director - Natural Capital, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), during the ‘3rd Business and Climate Summit 2017’.

Better urban environment unequivocally warrants better planning and modal shift to public transport and new clean energy options for personal mobility. The session deliberated on a set of policy changes and collaborative approaches on best practices being experimented in other countries that lead to more accessible, multimodal development of commuting and personal mobility, along with usage of high grade fuel efficient technologies and alternative fuels to build a huge momentum.

“As populations are rapidly, we need better ways for people to move around”, said Mendiluce, adding that, “New opportunities opened through electrification. Electrification of transport is the next big step. The future of transport resembles more science fiction, but the truth is its becoming closer of reality”.

She further added that “Combination of internet of things and big data is changing transport. 50 billion devices will be connected by 2020. Transport needs to be looked at with a holistic approach”.

“We all make mobile choices in our mobility, and we need to improve them all so we can move around in an intelligent way. Cities don’t’ have enough space to have a car for everyone. I feel the internet of things is a fascinating area which will provide solutions for mobility”, she said.

Nicholas Beaumont, Co-Founder, Paris Process on Mobility & Climate said, “I am in charge of sustainable development and sustainable transportation for the Michelin group. If you look at the UN SDGs, there is no transport mentioned. Transport is everywhere, transport is the key.”

He further added, “We tried to define a roadmap where we can have zero emissions for transport by 2050”. Speaking about urban settings, he said “Cities are part of an ecosystem. Cities are clusters within a country where there is high population density. If we take cars out of the city, they tend to be on the outer rings. In terms of pollution it doesn’t change a thing. We need to look what around the city, not just the city.”

“We created a roadmap which addresses the decarbonisation of transport by 2050. We are working with FICCI and the Indian government to see how we can adapt the roadmap to the Indian context,” he added.

Nicolas Fornage, Country Director - India, French Development Agency (AFD) said, “Mass transport is a must for big cities in India. Metro system should be the backbone for the city development.”

Speaking about innovation, he said, “When we have to innovate, there is a common mistake. That innovation means technical innovation. We need institutional innovation. Another point of innovation would be urban planning. Kochi is a great example of this.”

He further added, “There have to be social innovations, like in terms of gender. Like Kochi has hired 7 female drivers for its metro.” “Environmental innovations are important. The urban environment should be green and proper. Financial innovations are also important, like the Kochi metro is having real estate being developed close to the stations to help in the financing of the metro. All these innovations are included in the new metro policy,” he said.

Sharat Sharma, Director (Operations), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), said, “DMRC as a corporation we believe that we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, but we borrow it from our children”, adding that, “We were environmentally sustainable right from the beginning. Being a very energy efficient system, we use regenerative braking and we provide energy back to the system. DMRC is a carbon neutral system.”

Speaking about the growth of urban population, he said “Our population has grown from 450 million to 1300 million. The urban population has grown by 500 per cent and when we talk about mobility, it depends on how the city is geographically and democratically distributed.

It is how you plan your city, vis-a-vis your transportation.” “The city has to grow vertically, rather horizontally. Unfortunately Delhi only grows vertically in the suburbs,” he said, adding that “As the urban population will grow, the demand for mobility will increase.”

Sohanjeet Randhawa, Responsible Group Corporate Communications, Customer Service Representative and Sustainability at Volvo India said, “The world needs more problem solvers. The problem which we all face is congestions, emissions, CO2 and we have tried to solve it. When it comes to public transport like buses, we are trying to go electric. Electric is the most viable solution for commercial transport.”

He also added, “Sustainability actually comes together when we have the economic viability, social aspect and the environmental concerns coming together. When we look at sustainability, there are three layers, first is the vehicle, but then is the transport concept. Then comes the layer of alternate technology and alternate fuels. Automation, connectivity and electric mobility is the next step in the transportation sector”. “Without collaboration there will be little progress”, he said.

Stefan Palskog, President, Scania India echoed Randhawa’s sentiment about problem-solving and said, “We have to turn into becoming problem solvers. Our problem solving dwells from deep commitments towards sustainability. Our way of problem solving is not just focusing on one discipline, but solutions which gear us towards a fossil fuel-free future.”

“Since we have started, we have trained the drivers to reduce their fuel consumption by 55 per cent. There is a huge potential to use energy for sustainable purposes for the transport sector”, he said, adding that “There is a huge potential in India to make different kinds of things. Like one state can be dependent on bio-diesel, another on bio-fuel, another on electricity.”

He also added. “We are a part of the below 50 initiative, which is an initiative to use sustainable fuels and reduce emissions by 50 per cent.”