During the ICLEI World Congress 2018 in Montreal, the five South American cities in the ICLEI Network that will be supported by the international project were announced. EcoLogistics: Low-Carbon Freight Transport for Sustainable Cities Its objective is to support the development of sustainable solutions for urban freight transport, impacting national and local policies and plans for the urban freight transport sector. In Argentina, the cities of Rosario and Santa Fe were selected, and in Colombia, Bogotá, Manizales, and the Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Area (Medellín's metropolitan region) were considered.

Currently, urban freight transport accounts for up to 25% of vehicles in cities, occupies 40% of road space allocated to motor vehicles, and contributes up to 40% of urban transport-related CO₂ emissions. Urban freight transport encompasses a wide range of services, from garbage trucks to construction trucks and commercial vehicles. Today, a growing number of cities are including urban freight transport in their plans to reduce emissions.

Funded by the International Climate Initiative of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (IKI/BMU), the project will engage the governments of Argentina, Colombia, and India to address this issue over the next four years (2018-2021). During this period, participating cities will receive technical and methodological support to develop updated assessments of urban freight transport, introduce emissions monitoring tools for the sector, and establish multi-stakeholder working groups for discussion. By 2021, the goal is for the eight cities to have implemented pilot demonstration projects, collected data to analyze future trends, and ultimately be able to develop and/or influence the creation of local and national policies to address the issue, aligned with climate and resilience policies. In South America, the project is being carried out in collaboration with the consulting firm Despacio.

Implementing an initiative like this in two South American countries is extremely relevant, given that the region has experienced some of the highest rates of urbanization and significant growth in metropolitan areas over the last decade, says Igor Reis de Albuquerque, Climate Change Manager at ICLEI South America. “The flows between regions and the demand for logistics services have grown, impacting not only GHG emissions but also the economy and the well-being of citizens,” Albuquerque explained. Involving capital cities, economic centers, and populous metropolitan areas, such as Bogotá, Manizales, and the Aburrá Valley, as well as logistics hubs in port or agricultural production regions, such as Rosario and Santa Fe, is crucial not only for developing policies and pilot projects but also for bringing sustainable transport to a sector that has not fully embraced this perspective. “EcoLogistics is important, primarily, because it brings the aspect of planning in an integrated way together with national governments, so that freight and urban logistics issues are not simply limited to one region, but can be expanded across the territory.”.

Globally, the transportation sector is identified as the most frequent source of greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas, as is the case in the Argentinian city of Santa Fe. Recognizing this, Pablo Tabares, director of Santa Fe's cooperation, investment, and foreign trade agency, wants to explore synergies between the freight transport sector and the city's existing resilience and risk management plans: "We want to leverage other experiences, which will allow us to build upon our existing assessments of the sector," he stated. Identifying international best practices and guidelines on urban freight transport is also one of the motivations for the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley (AMVA) to participate. “Our participation in this project will allow us, firstly, to put the issue of health at the center of the topic; secondly, the issue of air quality, a central theme of our comprehensive PIGECA plan; and thirdly, ways to address the issue of freight transport in our territory,” explained Pablo Maturana, deputy director of cooperation and agreements of the AMVA, which is the environmental and transport authority for the 10 municipalities of the Medellín metropolitan region.

For the cities of Bogotá and Rosario, the project represents an opportunity to increase the efficiency of transporting essential goods and services for the population and the local economy. “For Bogotá, it is crucial to develop collective actions that improve mobility conditions and increase logistical efficiency, involving the participation of private and public actors working together,” stated Ricardo Sampaio, urban logistics coordinator for the Bogotá Mobility Secretariat. “To achieve these objectives, having the international experience and expertise of ICLEI is fundamental.”.

The city of Rosario, a major logistics hub due to its port status, primarily for grain exports, aims to address urban freight transport from a metropolitan perspective. “We attract more freight trips than we generate, so a metropolitan approach is crucial for us, especially regarding the grain shipments arriving at our port,” stated María Cecilia Alvarez, Rosario's Undersecretary of the Environment.

The ICLEI World Congress marked the official start of the project, when representatives from the selected cities met for the first time to share the initial status of their cities in relation to ecomobility and urban freight transport.

More information about the EcoLogistics project