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The transformative role of transport in realizing sustainable development is well understood and was acknowledged in The Future We Want, the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) as well as the report of the Secretary General’s High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post- 2015 Development Agenda.
The Voluntary Commitments entered into at Rio+20 were a game changer and have galvanized a large range of interests into action on sustainable development, including the sustainable transport community. The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport through its members and other organizations working on sustainable transport made 17 Voluntary Commitments at the Rio+20 conference to promote more sustainable transport. This included the unprecedented, and largest at Rio+20, tenyear Voluntary Commitment of $ 175 billion for transport in developing countries, made by eight of the world’s largest multilateral development banks. These investments will help to develop more sustainable transport systems. Other commitments made by the sustainable transport community focused on knowledge development, capacity building, and policy facilitation and development.
Implementation of the Rio+20 Voluntary Commitments on Sustainable Transport is on track. Several of the organizations implementing the Voluntary Commitments have made use of the past year to prepare for the full implementation of their commitment. They have done so through further knowledge activities, capacity building, development of new partnerships and piloting of new activities and also the scaling up of tested approaches.