A Global Dialogue on Decarbonising Transport

Over 1000 peers and partners of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) met at the fourth Transport and Climate Change Week from 21 to 25 June 2021.

Over 1000 peers and partners of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) met at the fourth Transport and Climate Change Week from 21 to 25 June 2021.

The overall aim was to build capacities and establish the meaningful relations at the heart of international cooperation. As the German Minister for the Environment, Svenja Schulze, emphasised on Monday: “Learning from each other is important because the global climate crisis can only be resolved cooperatively as part of an international community together with all stakeholders”. 

An interactive central programme organised from a studio based at GIZ Representation in Berlin provided participants with forums for dialogue, learning, and peer-to-peer exchange across 13 time zones via three different formats: online, onsite, and on-demand. The central programme was further enriched by regional events in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. 

"Expert Clinics," a new women's network and a space dog

In dedicated “Expert Clinics”, government partners had the opportunity to consult thematic experts on specific questions in one-on-one sessions. Participants from across thirteen countries took part, selecting from a roster of 29 internationally experienced transport professionals. In one clinic for example, a group of transport officials from Kenya had an intense hour of knowledge exchange with Professor Alan McKinnon, a leading green freight expert, on improving truck efficiency.

During the week, a women network on sustainable transport in Asia was launched, as well as several publications. One highlight publication was “Future Ahoy!” an infographic novel that visually maps sustainable transport developments in Germany through the eyes of Rudi the space dog. Rudi aims to bring policy developments to a wider audience through story-telling and anecdotal discussion. 

In addition, a new GIZ sourcebook on Urban Freight, the SLOCAT Partnership Second Global Status Report on Transport and Climate Change, and the EBRD Going Electric – A Pathway to Zero Emission Buses policy paper were presented to a global audience for the first time.

A lot of commitment for a successful event week

The Transport and Climate Change Week was only possible because so many committed partners contributed to the programme. 
Workshops were co-organised e.g. by 

• GIZ Changing Transport Team,
• the BMZ funded Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative, 
• UN Environment, 
• the ICLEI Network, 
• Agora Verkehrswende, 
• and the MobiliiseYourCity Partnership jointly funded by Germany, France and the European Union. 

In total, more than 30 partners and IKI-funded transport projects contributed to the success of the event. 

The IKI secretariat scheduled the annual thematic exchange on transport in parallel to Transport and Climate Change Week to further facilitate knowledge exchange between IKI implementers.