The Low Carbon Action Plan for Urban Freight (LCAP-UF), developed by the cities of Kochi, Panaji, and Shimla, with support from ICLEI South Asia, was launched during the EcoLogistics session at the ICLEI World Congress in Malmo, Sweden. The Municipal Commissioners of Panaji and Shimla attended the event, along with city representatives from the United States of America, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Argentina, and Colombia.

In his address, Mr. Agnelo Fernandes, Municipal Commissioner, Corporation of the City of Panaji, stressed that the LCAP-UF would guide urban local bodies to develop sustainable urban freight management for making cities more livable. Mr. Ashish Kohli, Commissioner, Shimla Municipal Corporation, said that clean, safe, and efficient urban freight is essential for everyone in the city. The senior officials also stated that urban freight is an integral part of a city’s functioning, providing citizens and businesses with products that they need daily, such as food, FMCG products, e-commerce deliveries, and construction material. Therefore, the action plans are relevant for developing an integrated urban development approach that includes focusing on efficient goods movement within cities.

The LCAP-UF, developed for the first time for Indian cities, was prepared under the EcoLogistics project funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The action plan prioritises strategies that focus on promoting the transportation of goods with minimised impacts on air quality, noise, health, fatalities, and injuries, besides reducing traffic congestion and GHG emissions. The action plan serves a dual purpose by positioning cities to reduce GHG emissions from the sector, mitigating externalities, while also improving efficiency.

ICLEI is implementing the EcoLogistics project in nine cities in Argentina, Colombia, and India. The project focuses on capacitating governmental and non-governmental actors to build strategies and policies to promote low-carbon and more sustainable urban freight through local action and national support.