Global | Leipzig

IRU puts resilient and green road transport at heart of ITF Summit

28 May 2024 · Environment

The annual ITF Summit of transport ministers took place in Leipzig, Germany, last week. IRU was at the heart of the gathering, putting the voice of the industry on stage and in high-level meetings.

IRU led calls on the need for both resilient and greener transport networks at the annual summit of the International Transport Forum (ITF) in Leipzig, Germany.

More than 50 transport ministers and over 1,200 participants from 80 countries took part in this year’s Summit, under the theme of “Greening transport: Keeping focus in times of crisis”.

IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto spoke in the opening plenary, stressing the importance of resilience and a pragmatic approach to road transport decarbonisation using proven efficiency measures available right now.

“Greening the world road transport industry is our mission, and we can’t let crises – however grave – disrupt progress to carbon neutrality. But this will only happen if we reinforce transport resilience by decarbonising pragmatically,” said Umberto de Pretto.

Rebuilding Ukraine

Umberto de Pretto also spoke in a special closed-door ministerial roundtable on rebuilding Ukraine’s transport infrastructure and networks chaired by Lithuanian Minister of Transport and Communications, and current President of ITF, Marius Skuodis.

He emphasised the need to keep trade flowing with efficient border processes, particularly using the TIR system, and making better use of IRU and its members for emergency relief coordination, as per IRU's Charter 75.

High-level talks

IRU held 15 high-level bilateral meetings with transport ministers and leaders from international organisations on a wide range of subjects from road safety and decarbonisation to trade and digitalisation.

Meetings included talks with Azerbaijan on preparations for the upcoming COP29 climate negotiations in Baku; China on trade routes and decarbonisation; Lithuania on border processes, Ukraine and EU decarbonisation policy; Saudi Arabia on training and transporting dangerous goods; and Türkiye on border processes and Iraq’s implementation of the TIR system.

In addition, IRU met with the World Bank, UNECE, UN Women, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and other associations and corporations.

IRU at ITF transport ministers summit highlights

Resilience on stage

IRU’s own event, entitled “Turning poly-crises into poly-opportunities: Can transport be greener and more resilient in a world of crises? A bottom-up reality check from the road”, focused on the challenge of balancing transport resilience and decarbonisation.

The interactive panel debate featured Andreas Zink from LKW Walter, Dr Malte Wienker from IRU member Flix, Marina Lussich from IRU member Amazon, Nicolas Peltier from the World Bank, and Pierre-Martin Huet from IRU member Michelin.

IRU President Radu Dinescu, who opened the event, said, “We need to reinforce our adaptability and resilience, especially in these uncertain times that we face now in many parts of the world.”

The panellists agreed that green and resilient transport do not exist in isolation. Along with safety, they are equally important and indeed strengthen each other in long-term planning to create better transport networks.

However, timing, delivery and client needs will often trump CO₂ emission considerations in ongoing transport network operations. Efficiency and resilience therefore must be built into transport planning from the ground up to ensure that networks are resilient as a prerequisite to effective decarbonisation.