Working Party on General Safety | Session 126 | 10-13 Oct 2023
Geneva
Agenda Item 18. (f)
ITC Strategy on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in inland transport

44. The secretariat introduced the Inland Transport Committee (ITC) climate change strategy (GRSG-126-13-Rev.1) on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in inland transport. He also introduced the inputs and feedback from the Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE) to the outline of the ITC climate change strategy and to the biennial report (GRSG-126-14). He informed GRSG that ITC had requested the secretariat to develop a strategy document for reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in inland transport based on international United Nations legal instruments under the Committee’s purview with priority actions for ITC and all its relevant subsidiary bodies. This would be considered and possibly adopted by the Committee at its eighty-sixth plenary session in 2024. He added that the secretariat had also been requested to report biennially with in-depth reports to the Committee on climate change and inland transport, starting at the Committee’s 2024 session. The expert from the United Kingdom stated that GRSG would have indirect rather than direct contributions to the strategy. He stressed that the protection of children in buses, and cyclists through UN Regulations under its remit, would encourage the shift to green mobility and public transport. He concluded that the strategy rather than limit, should enable people to travel. The expert from OICA remarked that this item should be achieved in cooperation, since specific solutions work better in some countries than in others. He finally encouraged GRSG to view his organization’s website on decarbonization (www.oica.net/oica-releases-global-decarbonization-framework/). The expert from the Netherlands suggested that assisting driven axles on trailers (e-axles) would definitively contribute to the strategy, even though this contribution would be coordinated among other subsidiary bodies. The expert from India informed GRSG about his country’s aim to achieve zero emission by 2070 and how it was fast pacing with measures to achieve this result. He suggested that e-axles and radiant warmers (UN Regulation No. 122) would be a contribution from one side, while on the other, GRSG would contribute to paving the way to use alternative fuels with low-carbon emissions: compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and Flex Fuels. The expert from Germany noted that UN Regulation No. 46 allowed the use of a camera instead of large mirrors to reduce aerodynamic drag and fuel consumption. The expert from IMMA underlined that micromobility as a key factor to downsize vehicles and to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles, was on hold because of regional differences in categorizing subcategories stemming from L7. Finally, the GRSG Chair reported that these conclusions of the group would be highlighted to WP.29 at its session in November 2024.

Documentation
GRSG-126-13/Rev.1 Development of the ITC Strategy on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in inland transport
GRSG-126-14 Inputs and feedback from [GRPE/WP.29] to the outline of the ITC climate change strategy and to the biennial report