Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA)

Transport Initiatives- Action Plan 2017– draft for discussion[1]- March 2017

1.Background:

At the 2014 Climate Summit in NY, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on all actors to work together to tackle climate change. This led, amongst others, to the creation of the Lima Paris Action Agenda, which brought together non-State actors working to tackle climate change in the run up to the COP21 in Paris in November 2015. At COP21 the importance of non-State action to tackle climate change was formally recognised by the UNFCCC parties. In the Marrakech Climate Conference in 2016 (COP22), as in the case of COP21 in Paris,the integration of non-State action and actors was promoted through a series of Thematic Days and concluding High Level Event addressed by the past, present and future COP Presidencies. COP22 also saw the launch of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA), which is expected to stimulate a further breaking down of walls between Parties and non-State Actors.

The Transport sector has responded well to call for action by non-State actors, see for an overview. The growing space for non-State actors in the UNFCCC processes offers however good opportunities for non-State actors in the Transport sector to do more - not only to reduce emissions - but in order to raise national climate mitigation ambition, scale up action on adaptation and ensure that the transport sector get the policy support it needs to deliver.

2.Role of Paris Process on Mobility and Climate vis-à-vis Transport Initiatives

The Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC) was created jointly by the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Mobility (PPMC) and the Michelin Challenge Bibendum (MCB). Together they bring together over 150 organizations working on sustainable mobility representing multi- and bilateral development organizations, financing institutions, civil society and foundations, academe and the business sector. The PPMC is an open and inclusive platform that actively invites all organizations and initiatives that support effective action on transport and climate change to join the process.

In the last 2 years PPMC has played a key role in the representation of the sector by convening meetings, and especially by facilitating the presenceof the sector at COP21 and COP22 and by developing and presenting keyknowledge products such as the Transport Initiatives reports and the Quick Wins on pre-2020 action. See for an overview of relevant knowledge products.

To effectively carry out its role as focal point for the transport non-State actors in the UNFCCC processes the PPMC is working closely with the UNFCCC Secretariat as well as the COP Presidency (Morocco) and the past/future Presidencies (France and Fiji) - to ensure the most complete engagement of the transport sector in the UNFCCC discussions and plans.

2017 Key Activities of the PPMC
As part of its role as the focal point for the transport sectors the PPMC is developing a Global Macro Roadmap for Decarbonising the Transport Sector which aims to build a broad consensus on a compelling vision for decarbonising the transport sector. PPMC is also assessing the desirability and feasibility ofa Transport Decarbonisation Alliance to provide political leadership for transforming the sector. In addition to ensuring transports presence in the key UNFCCC discussions in Bonn in May and November 2017 and will hold transport/climate related events at major meetings throughout the year e.g. ITF, HLPF, UN Habitat Governing Council etc. The PPMCis also active to increase attention to adaptation in the transport sector.
The Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport is also preparing a Global Status Report on Transport and Climate Change for first publication in 2018 as a key input to the Facilitative Dialogue on enhanced ambition on mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.

3.Global Climate Action (GCA) - Transport Initiatives

The overall objective of the Transport initiatives is to scale up action by non-State transport actors to reduce transport greenhouse gas emissions and to ensure the resilience of transport sector in face of a changing climate.

A key feature of the Transport Initiatives is that they are “self-organising”. They work independently to deliver their own objectives. However, it is generally recognised that for maximum effectiveness there is a need for some common reflection and joint action e.g. in presenting results in the UNFCCC process.

Since 2015 the PPMC has taken on the role of “convenor” of the Transport Initiatives. This also includes an involvement in reporting on progress of the initiatives. A report on the status of the GCA Transport Initiatives was published at the start of the Marrakech Climate Conference in November 2016.

So far the transport sector is seen as a “well organised” sector and has been used as an example to other sectors in terms of reporting, narrative and presence at the COPs. Transport initiatives have made an active contribution to making this possible. But the transport sector must not stand still - the Climate Champions have made it clear that initiatives need to demonstrate that they are additional, delivering and scaling up.

4.Global Climate Action Transport Initiatives - Action Plan 2017

To raise ambition and scale up action in 2017 the PPMC proposes to take the following actions:

  • Foster the setting up of new Transport initiatives
  • Help the initiatives expand the geographic coverage of their work
  • Actively support/help existing initiatives through bilateral contacts
  • Look to streamline / focus the initiative better
  • Facilitate and improve reporting on the initiatives
  • Improve communications and outreach

a.Fostering 2-4 new Transport initiatives

There are currently 15 Transport initiatives. As has been explained by the High Level Champions on Climate Change it is important to ensure continued innovation in, and expansion of the initiatives.The expansion of new initiatives could be accomplished by:

Integrating existing transport initiatives into the Climate ActionTransport initiatives

We see the potential to integrate a number of existing or emergingactivities into the Climate Action Transport initiatives. This could for example include:

  • Beyond 50, an initiative on sustainable fuels by WBCSD
  • EV 100, an initiative on corporate leadership on e-mobility by the Climate Group
  • WBCSD Indicators, an initiative to structure planning of urban low carbon transport
  • Eco-mobility, an initiative to promote the role of eco-mobility by the Eco-mobility Alliance

We will work with these activities as well as the UNFCCC Secretariat and the High Level Champions tolook at the possibility to make them part of the Climate Action Transport Initiatives. In doing so we will refer to the criteria for initiatives outlines in the Marrakech Partnership – Global Climate Action.

Criteria for Climate Action Initiatives
  • Relevance: advance the goals of the Paris Agreement;
  • Scale: should be or projected to be of sufficient size to have an impact on mitigation and/or adaptation;
  • Specific: have clear, quantifiable outcomes with defined targets and milestones that allow one to assess progress over time;
  • Transparency in progress: report progress and results on a periodic basis (e.g. annually);
  • Impact/results-oriented: need to be focused on concrete, real-world action delivering mitigation outcomes, increased resilience, reduced vulnerability and/or mobilizing finance. Initiatives solely focused on calls to action, information sharing would not meet the criteria to be included in the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action;
  • Ownership/capacity: the action/initiative is controlled/driven by entity/entities with the overall responsibility to deliver results, including mobilizing the necessary capacity and resources.

Identifying strategic gaps:

PPMCwill initiate an analysis of the current coverage of the initiatives to see whether there are gaps in the current initiativesand identify opportunities for the creation of new initiatives. In doing so PPMC will use the Global Macro-Roadmap as an initial framework for analysis.

  • Identifying thematic gaps. Initial review indicates that at present the initiatives do not cover the supply of low carbon energy and that also economic instruments are not well represented. In terms of transport sub-sectors, walking and international shipping are not represented.
  • Ranking the new themes: We will identify 5 thematic areas for new initiatives and following consultation we will rank them based on their potential, impact, difficulty etc.
  • Finding organizations to possibly lead the new initiatives: Once the thematic areas for possible new initiatives are decided, we will approach existing initiatives, SLoCaT members and the wider sustainable transport network to identify possible coordinators, leaders for the new initiatives.

If possible new initiatives are to be presented at the COP in November in Germany it will be important to start the process early. The following time frame is proposed:

  • Seek endorsement of existing Transport initiatives at PPMC stakeholder meeting in March 2017
  • Agree with UNFCCC Secretariat and High Level Champions on the desirability and feasibility of new initiatives by mid April
  • Approach existing Transport initiatives to assess interest to join the Climate Action Transport Initiatives
  • Identify gaps and possible new thematic areas and themes by mid-April
  • Identify possible organizations to lead new initiatives by mid-May
  • New organizations will be approached in May, and interested ones will be invited to a Transport Initiatives meeting e.g. at ITF in Leipzig.

b.Streamlining initiatives

The entire credibility of the Transport initiatives depends on theirability to scale up impacts.

We must recognise that not all initiatives have the same impact or potential for scaling up. To maintain the overall credibility of the Transport initiatives we should collectively review from time to time the initiatives and agree on the continued relevance of individual initiatives.

Ultimately we may need to decide that certain initiatives, that have lost momentum could be discontinued. In other cases, these might be absorbed in other initiatives. This will require the development of appropriate procedures. The PPMC will consult with the existing Transport Initiatives during the March 24 PPMC stakeholder meeting and in the month following that with the aim to have a consensus on this before the May session of the UNFCCC.

One possible approach could be to identify “weak” initiatives based on their contribution as documented inthe annual pre-COP report. Such an assessment would be based on the criteria of the Marrakech Partnership on Global Climate Action listed above. Taking into account the self-organizing principle of the initiatives it is clear that any procedure would need the endorsement of the current initiatives.

It is also possible that streamlining could be done by combining a number of Initiatives with similar focus, e.g. e-mobility, in one larger initiative possibly with sub-components.

c.Expanding geographic scope - all

Research by PPMC reveals that the Transport initiatives do not have a well-balanced geographic coverage. Currently we have good coverage in Europe and North America but weak in other regionswith very few initiatives working in the global South. Based on a review of other sectors the situation appears to besimilar in other thematic areas.

In 2017 we propose to make specific efforts to link the initiatives to the regional events and activities e.g. regional UNFCCC events. In order to help them expand their geographical coverage.We will work with the initiatives to identify priority geographic areas and use SLoCaT Members to help identify regional contacts and opportunities. SLoCaT will also make use of its contacts with the NDC Partnership, which currently has 30 developing countries among its members. SLoCaT expects to be working with the NDC Partnership on the implementation of existing NDCs in these countries and to scale up transport ambition as part of the revision of NDCs that is coming up. This should also allow for opportunities to link Transport Initiatives to country-level action.

d.Scale up ambition level

Discussions in the May and November session of the UNFCCC will create more clarity on the Facilitative Dialogue that will take place next year with the aim to increase the level ambition level on mitigation and adaptation. Transport initiatives can play an important role in this and this could result in individual initiatives deciding to scale up ambition level of their specific initiatives. This could be done either in 2017 already or in 2018.

e.Intensified support existing initiatives

In 2017 we intend to engage more with and provide more focussed support to the existing Transport initiatives, this will involve:

  • Carefully review available public information on the initiatives
  • Approach initiatives directly and ask more proactively about plans/activities for 2017
  • Ask them about barriers / problems they face
  • Identify specific actions that we could undertake to support them in 2017
  • Maintain regular contact during 2017.

Possible support activities could include:

  • Online brainstorming online for interested initiatives with small invited group of experts,
  • Link interested initiatives more activelyto other members/initiatives,
  • Include interested initiatives in PPMCevents and encourage SLoCaT members to do likewise,
  • Offer PPMC participate in initiative’sevents,
  • Meet withthe co-ordinator from time to time (if possible/local),
  • Invite initiatives to take part in PPMC outreach,
  • Include request for help in the two-weekly SLoCaT Members´ Updates
  • Organise conference calls of sub groups of initiatives to identify opportunities for co-operation / scaling up.

This is a pilot activity probably to be undertaken with some, interested initiatives - to test the utility and effectiveness of such an approach.

f.Reporting

To maximise the impact of the work of the initiatives it is necessary to have a much clearer reporting of:

  • what the initiatives are doing,
  • their objectives
  • their short term plans and
  • their direct and indirect impacts.

In the 2017 report a start has been made with a more standardized way of reporting making use of the Outputs – Outcomes – Impact approach. It is intended to continue this in 2017.

Following the discussions of last year PPMW aims to have one major report on the Initiatives in preparation of the COP in November 2017. Reporting should have a focus on highlighting progress compared to what needs to be achieved by 2020 (3 years).

This should be done at the individual initiative level as well from a “sector wide” perspective. In particular, the reporting collectively should tell a convincing story about the transport sector.

We will also try to increase the contribution of the Transport initiatives to other reports and communication activities e.g. the planned Global Status Report on Sustainable Transport and Climate Change. Also, in the run up to the review of the SDG 11 (urban) in July 2018 - there are likely to be a number of opportunities to highlight progress with Initiatives that have an “urban” component.

Coordination of reporting continues to be an important topic of concern with multiple organizations approaching the Transport initiatives for updates at different times of the year with often overlapping, but not identical reporting formats. This is creating confusion and if possible reporting should be streamlined with the aim to ensure that initiatives can focus as much as possible on the delivery of their initiatives and as little as possible on reporting.

UNE-DTU is putting increased effort to reporting on the Transport initiatives as part of their Climate Initiatives Platform (CIP) The CIP is a data provider to UNFCCCs Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA) platform ( unfccc.int/) since October 2016. The NAZCA platform aims to showcase non-state commitments to take climate action, and is acknowledged as structuring and mobilizing force in the Paris Agreement.

Reporting on the CIP and NAZCA websites is mostly on an individual basis and the PPMC intends to coordinate with CIP and NAZCA to: (a) ensure that all Climate Action Transport Initiatives are included in CIP and NAZCA, (b) that reporting formats for PPMC, CIP and NAZCA are harmonized, and (c) timing and frequency of reporting.

The PPMC will also actively coordinate with past, present and future COP Presidencies to seek their buy-in for the harmonized approach to reporting indicated above.

As in previous years, it is expected that the PPMC annual report will be the only report that pulls together progress across all the individual initiatives with the aim to provide a more comprehensive picture of the progress of the Transport initiatives. This comprehensive report will be published prior to COP23 in November 2017. The proposed structure of the report, and areas of emphasis, will be developed in active coordination with the UNFCCC Secretariat, the High Level Champions, UNE-DTU and the initiatives themselves. This should be be done before the end of June 2017 so that initiatives have enough time to prepare.

g.Communication and outreach

In order to support deliver on the above objectives the PPMCwill review our communication and outreach activities and define a specific plan. This will include inter alia:

  • Fundamental revision andupdate of the PPMC/SLoCaT websites by summer 2017
  • Identify “success stories” - facilitate links to initiatives
  • Identify channels to link initiatives / and connect the to the broader SLoCaT/PPMC Members. This will include a structured Twitter campaign around COP23
  • Make more use of the initiatives to relay general PPMC messages
  • Promote the Transport Initiatives in presentations and events throughout the year.

5.Milestones in2017

We will make maximise opportunities for the initiatives in major transport and climate events and meetings in 2017, this will include inter alia:

  • Bonn UNFCCC meeting May 2017
  • Moving’ On Meeting in Montreal - June 2017
  • HLPF, New York - July 2017
  • Regional UNFCCC Meetings in Asia; Africa (Benin); and Latin America (Mexico)
  • Business and Climate Summit (India), August 2017
  • 2nd Alliances and Coalitions Summit - September 2017, Morocco
  • UNFCCC COP23 Bonn - November 2017

6.Comments, Review and revise

Comments on the draft Action Plan can be submitted to Mark Major (mark.major@ slocatpartnership.org) and Talya Enriquez Romano () before March 31st.

At the end of 2017 the results and effectiveness of the above actions will be reviewed and reflected upon in order evaluate the success of the Action Plan in 2017 and conclude on the cost effectiveness/utility of the work done. This evaluation will feed directly into the planning for 2018.

March 2017

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[1]This Action Plan has been prepared by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) as a contribution to the Paris Process on Mobility and Climate.