In memoriam Jan Terlouw at the ITF Summit
During the Council of Transport Ministers at the ITF Summit in Leipzig, Director General Kees van der Burg paused to reflect on the passing of Jan Terlouw.
Ladies and gentlemen,
On May 16th, we lost a rare kind of public figure: a scientist who understood politics, a politician who wrote novels, and above all a humanist who believed in progress with purpose.
Jan Terlouw was many things: a bestselling author, a Dutch statesman, a lifelong advocate for climate action. But here, in this setting, it is especially right to remember him as Secretary-General of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport; the predecessor of this very Forum.
From 1983 to 1991 he helped shift the conversation. From vehicles to values. From engineering to ethics. Under his guidance, the ECMT grew into a platform where mobility was understood as a social force – a driver of equality, opportunity, and sustainability. He reminded us that transport is not about abstract flows or distant targets, but about people: a mother on a night bus, a child cycling to school, cleaner air for our children and grandchildren – not tomorrow, but today!
He saw climate change not as a future threat, but as a present injustice. And he insisted – long before it became common political language – that clean transport is a moral imperative.
His conviction was rooted in science, but also in storytelling. He knew that facts alone don't move people, but stories do. Through books, speeches, and countless public appearances – even into his nineties – he urged us to act. To protect not just the planet, but each other. As he often said: "Don't look away. Face the facts. Looking away leads to denial. Facing reality leads to action."
And this, perhaps, is his most lasting legacy: a call to moral clarity in a time of complexity. A belief that politics begins with trust. And that real leadership means standing up, even – or especially – when it's uncomfortable.
We at the ITF are proud to stand on the foundations he helped build. The path toward clean, fair, and inclusive transport is not easy – but it is necessary. And we walk it in his spirit. Jan Terlouw is no longer with us. But his voice still echoes – calm, clear, and full of purpose. Let us listen. And let us continue his work.
Thank you.