Energy efficiency and climate change mitigation in the land transport sector in the ASEAN region
Project description
Title: Energy efficiency and climate change mitigation in the land transport sector in the ASEAN region (TCC)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam
Lead executing agency: ASEAN Land Transport Working Group
Overall term: 2016 to 2018
Context
A good transport system drives economic growth and promotes social development. However, transport sector growth in Asia is not sustainable. Road transport in the region that makes up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN for short, generates around 310 megatonnes of CO2 emissions, making it a key contributor to climate change. Moreover, ASEAN cities are now wrestling with the negative impacts of their heavy volumes of traffic. These are many and varied and include traffic congestion, road accidents and noise and air pollution.
There are many ways – and vast potential – for increasing energy efficiency and reducing emissions in the overland transport sector. A sustainable transport development policy needs to take account of all types of transportation. With the new ASEAN Strategic Transport Plan, key elements of sustainable transport policy are being rolled out. For example, the plan stipulates policy guidelines for reducing fuel consumption and making freight transport more environmentally compatible. Furthermore, it advocates the use of non-motorised vehicles and recommends promoting public transport systems.
Objective
The project improves the enabling environment for measures designed to raise energy efficiency and increase climate protection in the overland transport sector in the ASEAN region at the regional and national level.
Approach
The project team is assisting ASEAN Member States to implement the new ASEAN Strategic Transport Plan which – thanks to the preceding project – now features its first-ever extensive chapter on sustainable transport systems, including numerous intermediate goals. What is more, the ASEAN Energy Action Plan also focuses on the topic of energy efficiency in the transport sector. The project works closely with ASEAN working groups, such as the Land Transport Working Group (LTWG) or the Working Group on Climate Change (AWGCC).
At a national level, the project team is assisting the ministries in the respective countries to align their national strategies and action plans with the strategic plan’s objectives. Expert working groups have been set up to realise the ASEAN Strategic Transport Plan at country level and throughout the entire region. These groups now meet up regularly to discuss and share their knowledge of fuel efficiency and sustainable transport development.
The project is currently focusing on the issues of fuel efficiency, two and three-wheel vehicles, including electrification, and on green road freight transportation and logistics.
The project is assisting ASEAN states to establish measurement, reporting and verification systems (MRV) for greenhouse gas emissions, including indicators for transport systems. And it is also advising partner institutions on the collection of relevant traffic data. By providing training on all topics related to the development of sustainable transport systems, the project is helping to build the capacity of management staff and employees in the institutions and administrations concerned. The project organises various courses, including ones on data collection, indicators and emissions measurement and reporting. Also, the team holds regular workshops on fuel efficiency and green freight and logistics, all of which are to be continued following completion of the project.
Results
The project team has produced status reports for all five partner countries and has submitted these to its respective local counterparts. These reports help identify potential for improvements and provide a basis for decisions on further measures at national level in line with the strategic framework.
Below are two examples of national policy alignment with the ASEAN Strategic Transport Plan:
In Indonesia, the project cooperated with the Ministry of Transportation and with local and international experts to draft a White Paper on environmentally sound freight transportation. The proposals contained in this report are to be taken into account in the next Five Year Plan.
In order to realise green freight projects, the Department of Transportation in the Philippines has improved the implementing rules and regulations for its Special Vehicle Pollution Control Fund. A fixed percentage of the vehicle registration fee payable by all owners goes into this fund which is used to implement projects, activities, and programmes in the following fields: development and enforcement of vehicle standards; vehicle pollution control research, education and training and clean vehicle technologies.