Sustainable Transportation
Intelligent Transport System (ITS) in Fiji
ITS is derived from Fiji’s 5 year and 20 year National Development Plan (NDP) – “Modernisation of Land Transport” by providing access to transportation through efficient and sustainable transport systems.
In transforming Fiji, a modern, safe and well-connected road infrastructure is necessary. The Fijian government has already embarked on modernising the infrastructure with substantial funding to improve our roads, bridges, jetties, streetlights and footpaths over the recent years.
Accordingly, a 7 months pre-feasibility study of ITS in Fiji was conducted in association with the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIIPA) operated by the Government of South Korea. The objective of the study was to prepare the foundation and improve ITS in Suva, and then further expand ITS nationwide to enhance city competitiveness and improve quality of life. The pre-feasibility study focused on the greater Suva area as the identified hub of economic activities and highly affected by traffic congestion.
Click Here to view the Pre-Feasibility study of Intelligent Transportation System.
Sustainable Urban Transport Index (SUTI) in Fiji
In 2017, the Ministry in attending the Evidence-based policy and planning for sustainable use of energy resources at national and regional levels workshop in Bangkok, Thailand held discussions with UNESCAP on the benefits of SUTI. One important benefit is the collecting of important data such as the air quality and greenhouse gas emissions from land transport.
SUTI was developed by UNESCAP to help summarize, track and compare the performance of cities with regard to sustainable urban transport and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
SUTI is directly related to SDG 11 on Sustainable Towns and Cities of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Target 11.2 of SDG 11 states that “By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons”.
SUTI is further reflected in section 3.2.1 of the 5-year and 20-year National Development Plan for Fiji on “Modernising Land Transport”. This section mandates the Government to ensure that Fijians have access to reasonable transportation through an efficient and sustainable transport network.
One of the main benefits of SUTI is the provision of an enabling mechanism for the collation of data for Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS), contains data, however, this is based on estimates and forecasts.
The data from SUTI will assist in better planning and support for the introduction of energy efficient vehicles enabling Fiji to achieve the target of 40% reduction by 2030 and net-zero by 2050.
Click here to download Sustainable Urban Transport Index (SUTI) Report GREATER SUVA AREA, FIJI
MTCC Pacific- Retrofitting of Government Vessel with Energy Efficient Technology
SPC is the host institution of MTCC-Pacific. SPC and IMO signed a contract on 12 May 2017 to implement the MTCC-Pacific project. Our Ministry represents Fiji as the host country of MTCC-Pacific.
MTCC-Pacific has conducted 7 national workshops on ‘Energy Efficient Operations’ of Ships and also conducted 7 energy audits in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Samoa, Kiribati and Marshall Islands. The outcome of the workshop was the selection of 1 Fijian Vessel as the “Leader Ship” to fully develop and implement its Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) and trial new technology to reduce fuel oil consumption and reduce GHG emission as a proof-of-concept.
The outcome of the energy audit was the successful implementation of the Energy Policy and Management Plan including short term energy savings initiatives in Fiji and Solomon Islands. It was determined that there was a 21% reduction in 2017 in electricity use at Fiji Ports Corporation Limited, Mua-i-Walu House based on lighting upgrade to LED and an expected annual reduction of 75,000 kWh 32 tonnes of GHG emissions.
With reference to the MTCC-Pacific Report for the period May 2017-August 2018, it has been identified that the MTCC-Pacific completed 83.6% of its planned activities beyond its target of 80% in 2017. As of 31 July 2018, MTCC-Pacific achieved 56.2% completion rate of its planned activities indicating 47% of Result 1 Capacitating and Operations, 50% of Result 2 Capacity Building, 53% of the Result 3 Pilot-Project on Energy Efficiency, 60% of Result 4 Pilot-project on Data Collection and 71% of Result 5 Communication and Visibility.
Government Shipping Services (GSS) is selected to be the pilot project to become energy efficient through identifying technologies that can be retrofitted in a government vessel to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Data has been collated from two Government vessels that have been the focus of pilot projects in Fiji namely the MLC Sigavou and the MLC Vunilagi, which is used to service franchise trips. From the two, only one vessel will be selected as the “leader-ship” depending on the accuracy of the data collected and other assessments. As such the identified retrofitting named Propeller Boss Cap Fins (PBCF) is an energy-saving device attached to the propeller of a vessel. There will be a 2-5% reduction in fuel consumption and a corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions from a simple and straightforward installation that will require no modification.
GSS Pilot Study report:
- Pilot Project 1 Report: UPTAKE OF SHIP ENERGY EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGY REPORT (Click Here)
- Pilot Project 2 Report: FUEL CONSUMPTION DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING REPORT (Click Here)
Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership (PBSP)
Fiji’s leadership at the 23rd and 26th Conference of Parties (COP 23 and COP 26) and participation in the international United Nations Oceans and High Level Panel, regional and domestic high level fora, gained recognition of the issues the region faced due to the climate change. Fiji is renowned for championing the ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
At the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Fiji along with other Pacific Island Countries (PICs) like The Republic of Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Solomon Islands continue to voice strong support for decarbonising international shipping commensurate with 1.5 degrees. The recent IMO targets to reduce emissions by at least 50% by 2050 has attracted strong market signals amongst the shipping industry, which has resulted in a serious transition to new fuels and technologies to reduce shipping emission internationally.
Similarly, PICs are challenged to implement action or technology change that would match the international transition. This will ensure that the PICs are not left behind and face ever increasing financial penalties by on-going dependence on fossil fuel powered (and often aged) ships.
Fiji has promoted the Low Emission Development Strategies (LED’s) and Green Growth Framework, both which highlight transport decarbonisation intent. A transition to decarbonised shipping offers Fiji and PICs an opportunity to progressively renew their respective domestic shipping fleet to not only green ships, but more appropriate and affordable options including a sustainable maritime logistic supply chain.
As Pacific front runners, Fiji and the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) have played influential roles in implementing policy in this field. Government Ministries (led by Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport (MCTTT) have been working with a collective of PICs and other development partners to further progress the concept of forming a Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership (PBSP) or “Partnership” for decarbonisation of the shipping transport sector at a domestic level.
The “Partnership” is a country-driven initiative, supported by an institutional structure for coordination and programme delivery that links member countries with international development partners and other relevant stakeholders.