Raquel Sánchez assures at the opening of the Global Mobility Call that “the best mobility, the most sustainable and the least polluting is the one that is not necessary”.
Promote teleworking as an essential step for sustainable mobility. That is what the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, has asked the companies during the inauguration this Tuesday of the Global Mobility Call (GMC), a congress focused on mobility that will be held until Thursday at the venue IFEMA fair in Madrid and with which the Government hopes to make Spain a “world leader in mobility and attract investment and technological innovation”.
According to the Minister of Transport, “the best mobility, the most sustainable and the one that pollutes the least is the one that is not necessary”, so “the private sector is also responsible for promoting teleworking, which has experienced a notable boost during the pandemic , and that directly affects sustainability”.
The Minister of Transport assures that she represents a Government that understands that “mobility is a citizen’s right that must be protected by public authorities”, although she believes that “digitalisation and technological progress are a great opportunity for transformation and the best connection between infrastructures, services and citizens”.
“Fighting against the colossal challenge that climate change represents, and which poses a threat that already commits us at a global and European level, requires the commitment of all”, insisted Raquel Sánchez, who highlighted the future Sustainable Mobility Law as an instrument of the Government to contribute its particular grain of sand.
“We assume the urgency of fighting climate change and fulfilling in this sense the international commitments signed by Spain. These principles have been the basis of our Safe, Sustainable and Connected Mobility Strategy and constitute the framework of the future Sustainable Mobility Law. Both initiatives are aligned with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations and already, in the context of the European Union, with the European Green Deal and the Smart Mobility Strategy that calls for reducing transport emissions by 90% by 2050. “, the minister recalled.
To materialize the Sustainable Mobility Law, Spain has 13,000 million euros from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which will allow the Ministry of Transport and its group of companies to increase their investments by 30% in the coming years, as explained by the minister. “Under the plan we have proposed aid to act against emissions and urban congestion and improve public transport. Spain can get the most out of a transport system, which is already cutting-edge, and we are providing the means to do so,” he said. pointed out her.
Specifically, Sánchez has revealed that 3,000 million euros have been allocated to promote active mobility. “This includes the creation of low-emission zones and pedestrian and cycling itineraries, the promotion of public transport with priority lanes and dissuasive parking, and the humanisation of urban areas”, according to the minister.
The Government’s strategy also includes a greater commitment to the railway, “which is the most respectful means of transport with the environment and whose weight in the set of emissions is residual”, as recognized by the Minister of Transport. “We know that its share is very limited in passenger transport and even more so in freight transport, where we are far behind the European average. This modal distribution is precisely what we intend to change”, said Raquel Sánchez.
The ministry wants to increase the share of rail freight transport from 4% to 10%, which will mean an investment of 8,000 million euros in the coming years and for Spain to become an intercontinental platform for Europe. According to the minister, more than 6,600 million euros are being allocated to act on more than 800 kilometers of Cercanías lines, more than 1,500 kilometers of the network of the Mediterranean and Atlantic corridors and almost 1,000 kilometers of trans-European networks not included in the corridors.
