CAF promotes the transformation towards sustainable mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean from the International Transport Forum 2024

From May 22 to 24, the German city of Leipzig hosted the International Transport Forum (ITF) 2024, the highest global summit on transport and sustainable mobility. Under the motto "Greening Transport: Keeping focus in times of crisis", this high-level event brought together more than 1,200 leaders and experts from governments, international organizations, academia, civil society and the private sector to analyze the strategic role of transportation in the climate action and the challenges to decarbonize this key sector in a context of climate, health and geopolitical crises.

In this annual event, CAF - development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean - had active participation and a rich institutional agenda to position its firm commitment to promoting the transition towards modern, efficient, inclusive, low-emission urban mobility systems. and aligned with the climate goals in the region.

The CAF delegation was led by Ángel Cárdenas, manager of Urban Development, Water and Creative Economies, and integrated by Emil Rodríguez, director of Habitat and Sustainable Mobility; Nicolás Estupiñán, director of Infrastructures; Catalina Vanoli and Harvey Scorcia, specialists in sustainable mobility.

In the technical session "People vs congestion: How a people-centered public transportation system can recover our cities", Emil Rodríguez presented CAF's comprehensive vision: "We promote urban development that has sustainable mobility as its structuring axis. Distribution of land uses largely determines distances and therefore the demand for transportation in cities. We cannot dissociate urban planning from transportation planning.

We work alongside local governments to address their challenges with tailored solutions, strengthening technical and financial capacities. Our objective is to empower subnational governments for sustainable and inclusive urban development

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Ángel Cárdenas

For his part, in the closing panel "Resilient, prosperous and equitable cities and regions", Ángel Cárdenas delved into CAF's approach: "We work together with local governments to address their challenges with tailored solutions, strengthening technical and financial capacities "Our goal is to empower subnational governments for sustainable and inclusive urban development." The CAF Urban Development Manager also emphasized the inequality of opportunities that the system offers to women compared to men, where transportation planning, its infrastructure and its labor market contain access and security barriers for women.

CAF has been actively working for more than 8 years to make the gender gap visible by proposing a gender perspective scheme in all its operations.  

In this important forum, CAF signed two strategic technical cooperation agreements:

1. Letter of agreement with the ITF, signed by its Secretary General Young Tae Kim and Ángel Cárdenas, to reinforce long-term joint efforts and move towards a comprehensive vision that raises the standards of quality, efficiency and sustainability of transportation systems in the region.
2. Memorandum of Understanding with the International Public Transport Association (UITP), with the aim of promoting programs and projects that strengthen modern, accessible, efficient and low-emission public transport in Latin America and the Caribbean.

CAF's agenda also included bilateral meetings with transportation authorities from Colombia, Chile and the Dominican Republic to promote joint projects and initiatives aligned with the decarbonization of mobility.

In the Sustainable Transportation and Road Safety working groups of the multilateral development banks, and the Transport Data Commons Initiative, CAF exchanged knowledge and best practices with strategic partners to catalyze green financing and reinforce axes such as road safety, data quality, electromobility, gender perspective and intermediate cities.

Likewise, the institution strengthened ties with global allies such as WRI Sustainable Cities, Walk21 and the TUMI Urban Transformation Initiative to explore collaborations on priority agendas such as road safety, active mobility with a gender focus, data quality, digitalization and intermediate cities, among others. convergent axes.

CAF's participation in the ITF 2024 summit confirms its position as a key financial and technical partner for the region, with a solid track record in promoting sustainable transport and mobility as vectors of more livable, prosperous, low-carbon cities and territories. emissions and inclusive, in line with global climate action.

Through its multisector strategy aimed at improving accessibility and connectivity, with comprehensive solutions such as mass public transportation systems, innovative financing mechanisms, cutting-edge technical assistance and a principle of environmental, social and economic sustainability, CAF positions itself as an actor key to the urgent transition towards low-emission mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean in the next decade.