Since 2007, RZD’s Environment Strategy has seen the company’s unit costs for train traction fall by 7.2% and its CO2 emissions by 9.2%. According to statistics kept by the International Energy Agency and the International Union of Railways, these figures are the best of any of the world’s major railways, a point made by RZD First Vice-President Valentin Gapanovich during a video-conference on compliance with environmental requirements for the handling of production- and consumption-related waste.
The event was attended by representatives of the Russian State Duma, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Supervisory Authority for the Natural World, the consumer watchdog, subjects of the Russian Federation, and rail transport companies.
As a company, Russian Railways scrupulously applies the principles of sustainable development, the core values of which are respect for nature and the development of an environmentalist culture, Valentin Gapanovich said.
He said that his company strove to adopt an environmentally-friendly and sustainable approach in its decision-making. All planned new production facilities will have minimum impact on ecosystems, and will enter service only following analysis and management of environmental risks. All projects carried out on at-risk sites, and the associated project management, take place in strict compliance with the standards of international and Russian law.
RZD also systematically eliminates the pollution arising from its rail transport business. The company works systematically to identify, inventory and classify these sites. Over the past five years, RZD has eliminated 208 polluting sites of this type, and plans to eliminate a further 92 sites between now and the end of 2015.
In order to oversee operations, participate in drafting environmental-protection and safety rules, and to effectively manage decision-making, RZD has taken the initiative of creating an International Rail Transport Centre for Environmental Safety. The company has been joined in this undertaking by the Estonian, Armenian, Kazakh and Kirghiz railways.
(Source: RZD)
