Speeches - Martin Marmy

Ladies and gentlemen

Let me first of all take this opportunity to express my thanks, in the name of the IRU, to our two national member organizations from Germany, the BGL and the VDA, for their co-organisation with IRU of this important symposium. The topic chosen for this event, "Road Haulage in the 21^st Century - Driving Towards Sustainable Development" underlines the outstanding importance that the road transport industry has given to this topic. It is our intent that, by sharing our views and by working together, we will be able to make a substantial contribution to the ongoing discussion about how to achieve sustainable development in our industry.

The IRU Agenda for Sustainable Development - When Did it Start?

Achieving sustainable development, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the greatest challenges we will have to address in the 21^st century. As we heard this morning, member governments of the United Nations adopted the so-called "Agenda 21", the comprehensive blueprint for achieving Sustainable Development, at the 1992 "Rio Earth Summit".

Chapters 27 and 30 of the Agenda underlined the need to strengthen the role of

• non-governmental,
• business and
• industry

partners.

The road transport industry, through its worldwide spokesman, the IRU, developed, as called for in Agenda 21, the IRU Charter for Sustainable Development, which was unanimously adopted by all IRU members at the IRU World Congress in Budapest in 1996.

This proactive IRU Charter, ladies and gentlemen, is a commitment of the entire road transport industry to drive towards the target of achieving Sustainable Development. And, to date, the road transport industry is the only transport mode to have committed itself to the common goal of Sustainable Development. It has, in fact, taken the lead in the transport sector.

"Driving Towards Sustainable Development" - The Principles and Prerequisites

Only one year after this commitment, the IRU Charter was followed by another initiative of the road transport industry called, "Driving towards Sustainable Development". This IRU initiative outlines in detail the principles and prerequisites necessary to achieve Sustainable Development, and recalls that

• "at the source" measures are the most appropriate and cost-effective measures for achieving Sustainable Development,
• policies geared to achieve Sustainable Development must be based on economic, social and environmental realities,
• investments in road infrastructure are a sine qua non condition for achieving sustainable development, and
• incentive schemes significantly accelerate the penetration of innovations, best industry practices and latest available technology.

The "at the source" examples given by Dr Zetsche a few minutes ago also clearly indicate that the road transport industry, manufacturers and operators alike, began to reduce its impact on the environment a long time before the UN Agenda 21 was adopted.

As regards realistic bases for Sustainable Development policies at all levels, one has to recognise that Sustainable Development is not a uni-dimensional but a multi-dimensional goal, which combines ecological aspects with economic and social objectives.

It should also be highlighted in this context that Sustainable Development is not available at zero cost, and that, therefore, measures for achieving Sustainable Development must always go hand in hand with Sustainable Profitability for transport operators. Policies that put new fiscal burdens on road transport operators clearly harm road transport’s capability to undertake investments in new technology and sustainable practices, not to mention the economy as a whole, and, thus, harm the common goal of achieving sustainable development.

Sustainable development can be achieved more efficiently and rapidly if we put both the environment and the individual road transport operator in a win-win situation.

As regards the ecological aspects of Sustainable Development, it is important to highlight that emission levels and road safety are influenced by many factors. However, certain key factors, such as the quality of fuel or road infrastructure, are not controlled by the road transport industry itself. Therefore, our commercial and governmental partners must also assume their respective responsibilities in order to achieve Sustainable Development.

A Must: Implementing Sustainable Development Practices at Company Level

As I mentioned earlier, the road transport industry is, to date, the only transport mode that has committed itself to achieving Sustainable Development. And, it was Maurice Strong, UN Earth Summit Secretary General, Chairman of the Earth Council and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General, who said at the IRU World Congress in 1996 that for him the signing of the IRU Charter was, I quote, "one of the most important and encouraging events of the post-Rio period". And he added that the IRU and its members should "bring it back home to their members and make it operational".

This request by Maurice Strong brings me directly to the next step on our Agenda, the IRU Guide to Sustainable Development.

The IRU Guide will put the practices and principles of Sustainable Development where they will have the greatest impact – in the hands of the transport operators.

The IRU Guide to Sustainable Development was developed for the IRU’s national road transport associations and, ultimately, for road transport operators. The Guide is a reference work of existing national action programmes, and contains practical IRU modules for the application of tailor-made measures and programmes at national level. The objective of the IRU Guide is to assist transport operators to implement Sustainable Development practices.

Today, IRU member associations from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK have established successful national programmes.

While the structure of these programmes might vary, they have one goal in common - they all aim at contributing towards sustainable development while at the same time improving profitability for road transport operators.

Today, we are also able to cite practical examples in our industry that demonstrate how effectively these national programmes contribute to sustainable development and profitability at the same time. By implementing measures from the national programmes our operators were able to

• increase its road safety performance,
• achieve substantial fuel savings,
• cut particulates, CO₂ and other emissions,
• reduce water consumption and waste water,
• reduce their power costs, and
• the quantity of waste oil.

These few examples from a much longer list of success stories clearly demonstrate that the commitment by the IRU and its members is not an empty phrase, but has become a daily reality. The achievements of these best industry practices are quantifiable and are presented on the IRU web site.

With the new Guide to Sustainable Development, the IRU will further develop and promote this process of implementation.

The IRU Guide to Sustainable Development - Implementing Best Practices

Based on what has already proven effective in some countries or in other sectors of the economy, the IRU Guide to Sustainable Development will act as a flexible and modular reference for IRU national member associations in more than 60 countries from all 5 continents.

It focuses on operational practices, systems, and measures, which significantly improve

• safety,
• environmental performance,
• fuel consumption and,
• profitability.

In short, the Guide comprises

• a module that foresees, as a starting point, the signing of the IRU Charter for Sustainable Development by individual transport operators, which aims at raising awareness and commitment amongst the national association membership;
• a module for so-called "Well Driven Campaigns", in which the operators that subscribe to the campaign commit themselves to improving road safety, according to a certain code of practice elaborated by the national road transport association;
• a module for the implementation and, if requested, certification of an Environmental Management System, which is the most comprehensive way to establish sustainable development practices at company level;
• a module for the development and application of certain controlling tools, such as green accounting, for the measurement and benchmarking of environmental improvements;
• a module for the promotion of best industry practices, which looks at industry awards for excellent performances and industry reports for the promotion of best practices, and finally
• a module for training bus, coach and truck drivers – aimed at improving road safety, fuel efficiency and load security.

The IRU Guide, with its modular approach, will allow greatest flexibility and encourage our national members to rapidly create and implement their national programme, tailor-made to the needs of their operators and their national transport market.

We are convinced that the IRU Guide will significantly contribute to the implementation of sustainable company policies in the road transport industry worldwide.

Critical Success Factors for Implementation - Working Together is a Must !

The IRU Agenda for Sustainable Development is a very good example of the IRU´s slogan "Working together for a better future".

However, "Working together for a better future", also refers to our industry’s commercial and governmental partners.

This brings me to the critical success factors for an effective implementation of sustainable development practices.

• It is clear that we need the engagement of our national associations to promote tools for sustainable development. With the signing of the IRU Charter, all our member associations have committed themselves to do so.
• Since some of the key factors for achieving sustainable development are beyond the influence of our industry, we also need the same commitment from our partners to assume their respective responsibilities.
• We need further innovations to be able to continue to benefit from "at the source" measures. These innovations include vehicles, tyres and fuels which are even safer, cleaner and quieter, and, for example, new, environmentally friendly logistical concepts initiated by shippers or developed jointly with transport operators.
• Turning to governmental decision makers, the road transport industry calls for incentive schemes to accelerate the implementation of the IRU Guide to Sustainable Development. Those transport operators who use innovations and who make corresponding efforts and investments in new equipment and strategies, should be rewarded accordingly.
• Last but not least, our economies need to invest more into road infrastructure, which we consider as a sine qua non condition on the road towards sustainable development. Without these investments we will not be able to improve traffic flows, which will harm the economy, and many of the environmental efforts undertaken by transport operators and their clients will not reach their maximum effect or, even worse, will become worthless.

The IRU, its national member associations, and their members, the transport operators are open for action alliances with our commercial and Governmental partners that will bring us further along the road to sustainable development.

The IRU – for its part – has made the implementation of sustainable development policies in the hands of the transport operators and the monitoring of this process one of its key priorities for the years 2000+.

Thank you.

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