Viegas News

International freight volumes will grow fourfold by 2050 while the average length of haul will increase by 12 percent over that time, trends that will cause a spike in global carbon emissions unless corrective action is taken. An Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) sector study presented at the International Transport Forum (ITF) forecasts that freight transport emissions will grow 286 per cent on average by the middle of the century as changing trade patterns ensure larger volumes of goods travel even longer distances. The sharp increase in emissions dwarfs the predicted 30 to 110 percent increase in surface passenger transport emissions.

Internationally renowned academic José Viegas of Portugal is new chief executive of global transport policy body. José Viegas, a Portuguese national, has taken office as Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum. The International Transport Forum at the OECD is an intergovernmental organisation with 54 member countries that acts as a strategic think tank for global transport policy and organises an annual summit of transport ministers. The Forum is housed by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.