Meet the Special Envoy

Every year, 1.3 million people are  killed from road crashes and  millions  more are injured. Half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Road traffic deaths are also the leading cause of death for young people aged 15-29, and road traffic injuries are the eighth leading cause of death globally. Beyond human suffering, road traffic deaths and injuries impose significant economic and financial losses to societies. In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed a Decade of Action for Road Safety ("Decade"). The goal of the Decade (2011-2020) is to stabilize and then reduce the forecast level of road traffic deaths around the world.
The Decade reaches its mid-term review this year (2015) with little observed change in the number of global annual road traffic deaths. With motorization rates rising rapidly around the world corresponding  to economic growth, especially in low- and middle-income countries, it is timely and imperative for all countries now to make tangible progress in improving the safety of their roads if they have not yet started to do so, and to further improve their road safety record... Read more

I am sincerely committed to working constructively and inclusively with all stakeholders, to the benefit of all road users, in an effort to generate additional, stronger momentum and ensure the needed support to address the horrific consequences that road crashes continue to have on the lives of so many around the world today.
In my capacity as a Special Envoy I will convey the key messages that will be developed under the auspices of the United Nations and, hopefully, with a contribution from all stakeholders in the road safety community. In this way I wish to contribute to the work of the many highly dedicated practitioners who have relentlessly been working over years to deliver solutions to improve global road safety. I am convinced that a change in the enabling environment is possible, but for this the road safety issue must be brought to the forefront of the development agenda of world leaders.
As a starting point, I welcome that road safety is explicitly reflected in the proposed United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals which are to be agreed at the forthcoming UN General Assembly in September this year. I am committed to working decisively towards ensuring that this target remains in the final document and will spare no efforts to ensure it is achieved... Read more

• On 29 April 2015, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed Jean Todt as his Special Envoy for Road Safety.
• Jean Todt is the former President of the FIA, Fédération Internationale de L'Automobile, 2009-2021 - the governing body for world motor sport and the federation of the world’s motoring organizations. The federation works across two key interlinked areas of activity – Sport and Mobility. In the realm of Mobility, the FIA aims to ensure that safe, affordable and clean systems of transport are available to all. He was elected to the position in October 2009 and re-elected in December 2013. He made road safety a priority of the federation through the FIA Action for Road Safety campaign, launched in 2011 in support of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. The campaign was based on global advocacy for road safety, supporting action on the ground by its 250 member clubs in nearly 150 countries, building institutional and commercial partnerships as well as mobilizing the motor sport community to promote road safety.
• Jean Todt is also a Member of the Board of Trustees of the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society... Read more