Óscar Puente urges better planning of urban space to accelerate transport emission reductions

The Minister for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, attends the Council of Ministers of the International Transport Forum

"It is clear that we must decarbonise transport, but equally important is the way in which we do it: having common rules at a global level is key, because climate change affects us all", said the minister during his participation in the Council of Ministers of the International Transport Forum (ITF), held today in Leipzig (Germany).

In this sense, Óscar Puente pointed out that "our responsibility as ministers is to give certainty and clear indications of where to go and how, so that companies can make the necessary change towards greener mobility. That is the key to public-private partnership: political will and certainty.

Furthermore, he said, although there is no single path to greener transport, which must involve all modes of transport, it is essential to take into account its social dimension. This is what, in his opinion, is clear to the Government of Spain, which considers transport to be a fundamental tool for social and territorial cohesion. Hence the public transport aid programmes, the configuration of a meshed high-speed and conventional rail network, the existence of public service obligations, etc.

Boosting ministerial commitments

The minister also stated that it is necessary to promote international commitments to make progress in improving global connectivity and the resilience of infrastructures, within the framework of the necessary decarbonisation of transport and the promotion of sustainable mobility.

Therefore, in Spain we have a global and pragmatic approach: boosting rail transport, promoting public transport and active mobility, greener ports, development of SAF, etc.

The minister stressed the importance of placing international organisations at the centre of a global framework for collaboration and that countries should participate in this collaboration with the political will to implement the changes necessary to achieve the goals of transport transformation.

He assured that Spain will continue with its high level of involvement in the ITF, and conveyed to his counterparts the importance of international collaboration at all levels, public and private, as demonstrated by "the experience we have all had during the last global crises". +

He also pointed out that there is a need to go further and achieve a high level of participation of all members in ITF's research and analysis activities and to take advantage of its strong capacity as an expert group to provide tools for transport policy.

Facilitating global trade and connectivity

In this regard, the minister pointed out that the transport sector has highly reputable sectoral and financial bodies, such as the ITF, "which have played an essential role in maintaining and facilitating global trade and connectivity". These are "bodies in which public and private initiatives work together and, therefore, are where initiatives that facilitate investment in global and sustainable infrastructure projects should emerge".

Óscar Puente said that "this huge task has to be supported by each of our countries, some of which are at the forefront, but all of which have the same objective of reaching agreements". Such agreements should be ambitious but realistic, as the context of countries and regions is very different.

In this respect, he stated that Spain is an example that, with a sustained political strategy over time, a country can be at the forefront of sustainability policies in sectors such as energy, technology and transport.

New members

During the Council of Ministers, which brings together the largest number of transport ministers in the world, three countries joined the ITF: Dominican Republic, Oman, Saudi Arabia.

The Dominican Republic joining is an example of the growing interest among Latin American countries to be part of this transport policy dialogue platform.

At this point, it is worth recalling the importance of disseminating the Transport Outlook 2023 report, the ITF's most important publication, translated into Spanish by the Spanish Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to help facilitate all professionals in Spain and Latin America closely follow the latest transport trends, something that will contribute to developing a fair and balanced transition towards zero-emission and sustainable transport.

Non official translation