The International Climate Chance Summit was launched on 11 September under the high patronage of his Majesty King of Morocco in Agadir, in the presence, among others, of high-level representatives from Morocco, the Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, Patricia Espinosa and Hakima El Haite, Climate Champion for the 2016 COP22.

In the framework of the conference UIC had the pleasure of organising two specific sessions:

• The first session was in partnership with UITP on the linking of global initiatives to the concrete actions for public transport decarbonisation;

• The second one was with the CNER – the National Centre for Road Studies and Research (Centre National d’Études et Recherches Routières) on the topic of the adaptation and mitigation of transport infrastructure.

In his presentations, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of UIC, explained how the rail sector is as committed as ever to the reduction of CO2, energy consumption and modal shift in order to face the challenges of the two-degree scenario.

The transport sector contributes to 25% of CO2 emissions. Rail has a low share, but the approach is to consider rail as a backbone of a new transport mix and to see how combined efforts in mobility – and in particular urban mobility – can address these challenges through a number of local and national measures; through a number of political and pragmatic measures; through a higher level of infrastructure investment; and through a quantified control of the effects of the various measures undertaken.

To this end, the role of UIC on behalf of the rail operating community worldwide is very important and the quality of the partnerships with the other co-organisers or with the OECD through the International Energy Agency (IEA) is also to be greatly valued.

More information will be published in next week’s edition of UIC eNews.