PL. 1 Opening Plenary – Clean Transport For All and Launch of Green Roads Toolkit
Tuesday, 14 May | 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. 

This high-level panel will open the Transport Forum, craft a picture of the Asian transport sector and highlight its importance for clean and sustainable transport for all. The session will explore how leading organizations in the transport sector are setting their future direction for clean and sustainable transport.   

Transport is an enabler of development and provides access to education, employment, health and social services; as well as providing a pivotal role in the movement of goods and logistics services. Well-developed and efficient transport systems ensure transport provides the mobility and accessibility needs for both people and goods and does so in an inclusive and sustainable way.    

Climate change impacts are having a major impact in the Asia and the Pacific region and urgent action is required to ensure climate resilience and to mitigate climate change related emissions. This is especially true in the Asian and the Pacific region as storm surges, floods, permafrost melting, etc. are having a significant and negative impact on transport asset that must be made climate resilient.    

The transport sector accounts for some 25% of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel and the fastest rate of increase in emissions from the transport sector is found in Asia. The sector must strive for net zero transport systems and operations.    

There is still a large infrastructure gap for transport across the region, with road, rail and urban transport system density per capita the lowest in the World, behind other developing regions and 2-3 below levels found in Europe and North America. Significant investment is still required in the transport sector to fully build out the transport systems. At the same time an increase in investment is required to maintain transport assets, many of which are at critical timeframes or their periodic maintenance programs. Operational efficiencies are another area that requires attention to increase use and capacity throughput of the existing assets. There is a need to build up capacity and financing for management and improvement of existing assets, introduction of new technologies such as e-vehicles, use of satellite imaging for mapping of transport infrastructure, improved operational efficiencies, and institutional reform.    

Within ADB, the transport is the largest sector for ADB operations and has consistently made up over 25% of ADB’s annual investments since the bank’s founding in 1966. While the type of transport projects has changed and broadened in the last two decade, as ADB has gone from supporting primarily road construction to supporting more public transport and railways, and more recently into maritime and reengagement of the aviation sub-sector.  

PL. 2 Pathways to Low-Carbon Futures Panel Discussion
Tuesday, 14 May | 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. 

This session brings together experts from different fields to explore the development of low carbon pathways as a means of mobilizing climate finance. The session will entail short introductory presentations by the panelists followed by an interactive Q&A and panel discussion. The presentations will discuss overarching aspects of low carbon pathways development across transport modes; how they can be developed in collaboration with key stakeholders and how the development of pathways will support governments in accessing climate finance. This includes presenting tools for scaling up ambition and creating enabling environments, developing business cases and investment pipelines, tapping into private sector financing, and ensuring no one is left behind through a just transition framework. 

PL. 3 Closing Plenary Towards a Sustainable Transport Decade
Wednesday, 15 May | 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.