Dear Friends,
It’s a pleasure to be with you today.
My thanks to the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Ms. Olga Algayerova, and the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety Jean Todt, for inviting me to their press conference.
I will try to be a good guest and not talk too much.
We are meeting on the second day of the High-level Meeting on Improving Road Safety.
This is about as universal a subject as there could be.
We are all familiar with roads.
We could all perhaps recall a personal story of a roadside incident – either as the victim or perhaps as the offender.
Dear Friends,
No deaths on our streets are acceptable.
The high-level meeting held under the theme, “2030 horizon for road safety: securing a decade of action and delivery”, is an opportunity to strengthen political will and implementation of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action on Road Safety, which started last year.
And for sake of posterity its important to note that this is the very first time that the issue of road safety is being discussed at a high level, in the General Assembly.
It is also an opportunity to scale up investment for road safety.
In most countries, investments in road safety remains underfunded.
Money is required both for the development of safe road infrastructure, as well as for interventions that can improve road safety.
This is especially important in low- and middle-income countries where about 93 per cent of the world’s fatalities on the roads occur.
The General Assembly yesterday adopted by consensus a political declaration.
Just a few weeks ago we were not very certain that we would be able to reach consensus on this political declaration.
However, this is a “Presidency of Hope” and if there is one thing that I am most certain about is not to give up hope.
The ambitious political declaration that we have adopted calls for the early and swift implementation of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action
It also calls for integrating a gender perspective into all policy making and implementation and ensure that policies cater to all kinds of road users in vulnerable situations.
The political declaration emphasizes the importance of international financing, and leveraging the full potential of the multilateral system, the United Nations Road Safety Fund and other dedicated mechanisms.
Dear Friends,
Let me also sincerely commend the tireless efforts by Special Envoy Todt and UNECE in raising global awareness of road safety, and promoting international cooperation.
I made the call yesterday and I will reiterate it here – urging Member States and other donors to support the United Nations Road Safety Fund.
As you are all aware, the Fund has been playing an important role in financing high-impact road safety projects based on best practices.
It is important to note that that road safety is integral to transport decision making, and not just an add on.
This is a challenge in some countries that do not have the resources or the know how to design safer roads or vehicles, or to inculcate safe road use behavior.
It is also a fact that many countries and cities do not have the expertise required to adapt Safe System principles – such as speed management – to their own conditions. They cannot effectively collect and analyze road safety data, or carry out quality road safety research.
It is pertinent to note that for this very reason the political declaration calls for delivering evidence-based road safety knowledge and awareness programmes to promote a culture of safety among all road users.
When we talk about development assistance in road safety, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where the majority of road fatalities happen, such assistance must also cover aspects such as such capacity building, knowledge sharing, technical support and technology transfer programs and initiatives.
Dear Friends,
Let me take this opportunity to widen the topic that we’re discussing – to the broader development agenda, and in particular, climate change.
As we know, the Sustainable Development Goals are interlinked.
We cannot reach the ones related to road safety without making sure that our infrastructure is resilient from the disastrous impacts of climate change including flooding, and sea level rise.
Responding to the needs of the planet is one of my five priorities for the Presidency of Hope.
I am convening a High-level Thematic Debate on the theme of “Moment for Nature” on Tuesday, 19 July.
The Moment for Nature will be an opportunity to reflect on how to achieve greater synergies between the key environmental conferences during the 76th session. And there have been about ten such conferences during the 76th session. The three COPs on Climate, Desertification and Biodiversity, the UN conferences on the Ocean, sustainable transportation, food systems, and energy, and the UN Environment Assembly and UNEP@50, as well as Stockholm +50.
This debate will promote solutions to common bottlenecks affecting the entire environmental agenda and foster hope in our collective capacity, by highlighting best practices and transformative partnerships that break the siloes and help accelerate implementation on all fronts, and at all levels.
Achieving the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degrees target and safeguarding humanity’s future will require greater coordination than ever, on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting biodiversity on land and sea, restoring life to degraded land and soils, tackling pollution and achieving circular economies.
The thematic dialogue is intended to facilitate this integrated approach, and achieve the cohesion needed. To accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and keep the 1.5 degrees target alive!
Let me stop here.
