UIC events at COP27
See photos of UIC participation at COP27
Click the drop-down menus to see a short summary of the events UIC participation, by topic, and the available recordings
👉Transport Initiative Launch
Egypt COP27 Presidency - Multi-stakeholder Dialogue:An Equitable Transition towards Sustainable Urban Transport - Launch of the Low Carbon Transport for Urban Sustainability (LᶜO₂TUS)
Rail was represented by Cecile Texier from Alstom at the launch of the flagship transport project of the Egypt presidency LᶜO₂TUS. UIC is proud to have been part of the drafting of this project and proud official supporter in action Area C which aims to Build capacity to develop integrated, multimodal policy frameworks in Low and Middle-Income countries , more details to come in the year ahead.
👉 Regional / Local dialgoues
African Pavilion: Climate-proof Infrastructure, solutions for low-carbon and resilient development in Africa
Watch recording here.
ucie Anderton joined panel discussion at the Africa Pavillion along side Mike Salawou from African Development Bank Group, transport leaders from Senegal, Lagos and the Center on Adaptation where they discussed the ways we can accelerate action for more resilient low carbon transport for Africa.
French Pavilion: Urban and Inter-Urban mobility solutions for Climate Neutral Cities: challenges and opportunities
Watch recording here
At the French Pavillion Joo Hyun Ha led a discussion with His Excellency Kamel El Wazir, Egyptian Minister of Transport, Hiba Fares Chairwoman of the RATP Dev Executive Board, Isabelle Spiegel, Environment Director of Vinci, François DAVENNE, DG of UIC and Sylvain Petiter, International Project Manager of Cerema. The panelists discussed the exciting public transport and rail development happening in Egypt, as a result of fruitful cooperation with French companies like RATP, Vinci and Alstom, as well as the leadership of the Egyptian government to maximize the benefits of these projects by ensuring local capacity building.
MedPavilion: Transforming the way we move : Building the future of mobility in the region
Watch event here
Francesc Carbonell kicked off the event with a presentation on the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Regional Transport Action Plan and the priority actions that focus on high-impact measures aligned with the Avoid-Shift-Improve approach and the importance of access to finance, governance, monitoring for success and capacity building.
Moroccan Pavilion: African Railway Green Deal for Sustainable Mobility
An exciting discussion on the benefits of the all-electric high speed rail investment in Morocco with their place making architectural stations as well as the vision of rail across Africa and its pledge to reach carbon neutrality and 25% modal share by 2050.
👉 Gender in Transport
Business Pavilion: Women get on board - sustainable and inclusive transport!
Watch event here
25% of energy in Africa goes to road transport. Growing the modal share of rail, public transport and active travel by attracting more women to use them is key to decarbonized mobility in Africa. More women in the transport workforce, all along the value chain, can bring the creativity and the focus needed to design policies, operations, and products that can provide women and disadvantaged groups with better customer experience in our mobility systems. “Mobility is not gender neutral. Women have completely different mobility patterns. We have to understand and study these needs to be able to take them into account and integrate a gender perspective across all policies and all railway services” from Vera Fiorani, CEO of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI). At Alstom, the percentage of female managers and engineers has grown by about 1% every year since 2014, from 15% to 23%, as a result of management focus and strategic planning. By providing training, flexibility, specific talent development programs and closing the gender gap. Cecile Texier, Head of CSR, Alstom
“The rail sector has changed dramatically – with much more innovation, it is a more sophisticated and cleaner sector that is becoming more lucrative, which is more attractive for female workers” - Amani Abou-Zeid, African Union Commissioner for Energy and Infrastructure
“In Ireland, a recent survey showed that women are motorizing faster than men because of their mobility needs. To address that, we need to offer quality public transport and active travel options – safer, more inclusive and designed to cater for their travel needs too”. Bronwen Thornton
👉 Public Transport and Active Travel collaboration
Official Side Event: The Role of Active Travel and Public Transport in the New Mobility Paradigm
François Davenne joined public transport (Mohamed Mezghani, UITP), cycling (Jill Warren, ECF) and walking (Bronwen Thornton, Walk21 Foundation) advocates to discuss how we ‘walk the talk’. The panel agreed on the critical importance of active and collective mobility working together in integrated investments so that people find their way to public transport hubs is a safe, healthy and sustainable way.
👉 Health and Mobility links
WHO Pavilion: The Power of movement – Clean transport for healthy cities and communities
Watch event here
The event brought together Sir Andy Haines, Tolullah Oni, Mayor Sharon Dijksma, Elisabetta Tromellini and Andriannah Mutheu, PhD, moderated by the Head of Climate & Clean Air Coalition Martina Otto - where panelists discussed the importance of tackling the health and climate crisis together, with sustainable transport being a great solution for both. This requires deep collaboration that prioritzes an Avoid - Shift - Improve approach and puts people at the center of action.
👉 Adaptation and Resilience of Infrastructure
Resilience Hub: Resilience Breakthrough: Engineering the vision for climate resilient transport
Lucie Anderton CEnv Anderton and Tebebu Terefe presented at the Breakthrough Implementation Lab ‘Engineering the vision for climate resilient transport’, with Savina Carluccio and International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure (ICSI). Explaining why climate change adaptation is so important for rail to be a reliable service that more people will use, and sharing case studies and experiences from Europe, Asia and Africa. See UIC presentation here.
👉 Investments in Transport
Climate Action Hub: MPGCA Transport Action Event
At this event, François Davenne spoke of the role of carbon pricing and compensation to support the flow of investment into rail, “Make investment in active mobility, public transport and rail eligible to carbon compensation markets would certainly bring a workable solution.”
👉 Rail development
World Bank Pavilion: Innovations in Rail Transport toward Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development -
Watch recording here.
This event was dedicated to the Railways, hosted by the World Bank and launched their new research in collaboration with UIC "Decarbonizing transport: Shifting people and goods onto railways". It’s clear that the most important contribution rail can offer in Africa to decarbonize transport is through modal shift and investment in connectivity and enhanced service is needed for the behavioral change needed for goods and people.“Rail is good to decongest cities, create connectivity, and supporting the urbanization agenda. Furthermore, it can improve regional integration and facilitate trade among countries all across the African continent” – Binyam Reja, Global Practice manager at the World Bank. The panel including Minister Mateus Magala, Eng. Eric Ntagengerwa (Msc, CIPM) from African Union, Dr. Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta from DB AG agreed that we need more discourse on how Africa can move forward with a more connected rail network.
👉 Future collaboration
UN Habitat - UIC MoU signature
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) and UIC seals the collaboration between the two organizations. François Davenne and Executive Director, Maimounah Sharif, discussed the importance integrating land use planning and transport planning, seamless connectivity with other modes and good walking infrastructure, and the role of the station in sustainable city.
Next Stop 2030: the Sustainable Mobility that We Want
The paper "Next Stop 2030: the Sustainable Mobility that We Want" is a development of the UIC Vision 2030, launched at the occasion of COP26, and features success stories from rail development around the world which are already delivering climate action to help put the sector on track with the Paris Agreement. Our message is clear:
Rail use must grow by more than 40% by 2030
to achieve the Paris Agreement’s Objectives. Over the last decade only 6-7% of passenger journeys were made by rail. Therefore, in the decade ahead, this must increase by over 40%, and freight logistics flows will need to exploit rail’s potential more actively in terms of volume and efficiency. Additionally, the railways’ efficiency must be further improved while the carbon intensity of rail operations is reduced. There are great examples of rail companies stepping up their climate action in the paper, and range from electrification of the Ethio-Djibouti railways to innovative apps that promote accessibility and inclusivity in Spain. The paper also brings examples of alternative and innovative financing tools for the sector, a major challenge for rail development.
> Download paper now:
More Trains campaign
The More Trains joint communication campaign materials were used at COP27 to share the vision of the sector illustrating the contribution that rail can make in achieving carbon-neutral transport, with concrete examples that are already implemented. This campaign builds off the UIC Vision 2030 and brings together success stories from rail around the world under the four key transformational areas: transforming cities and connecting communities, energy, technology and innovation, intermodality and seamless connection, and customer experience. It also features alternative financing models that enable More Trains to decarbonize and become more sustainable.
Watch the More Trains animated video:
More Trains Communication Materials
Help us spread the word and raise the visibility of railways at COP27! How? Access our Trello board and check out the communications materials we have prepared and how to use them:
Other rail reports launched at COP27
See below a list of reports developed by partners with UIC support:
The Role of Urban Rail in a Sustainable Africa by Alstom
The Role of Rail in Decarbonizing Transport in Developing Countries by World Bank
ELECTROMOBILITY AND RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY Developing Infrastructure for Synergies by Sum4All
How to Unlock Public Transport for Climate and Sustainable Developement by Sum4All
Supporters of the More Trains campaign
This campaign is a collaborative effort of concerted companies in the railway sector who are committed to the Paris Climate Goals and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Platinum supporters:
Silver supporter:
With special thanks to the contributions of:
AMTRAK, Bollore, Camrail, CER, Deutsche Bahn, Ethio-Djibouti Railways, FS Italiane, International Energy Agency (IEA), Source UIC : Based on 70 railways companies in Europe, including Turkey and Russia. From 2005 to 2020, the total CO2eq emissions from European railway sector were reduced by 58% (market based), and by 53% (location-based)East Japan Railway (JR East) , Lineas, ÖBB, ONCF, Rail Freight Forward Coalition, SNCB, SNTF, Tata Consulting Services, International Association of Public Transport (UITP)
Background
UIC will be present at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt and held under the presidency of the Government of Egypt between 6 and 18 November 2022. UIC is accredited by the United Nations as an observer organization which bring the perspective of a wider range of stakeholders and industries.
Egypt’s COP27 presidency vision is to move from negotiations and planning to implementation, showing real action on the ground. Recent IPCC reports have highlighted the gravity of the climate crisis and the need for immediate and sustained political will, impactful action and effective cooperation. In this spirit, UIC is working with members and partners to highlight the railway sector as a key pillar of sustainable mobility of the future.
UIC at previous COPs
Read more about UIC’s participation in previous COP meetings:
COP26 in Glasgow (2021)
COP25 in Madrid (2019)
COP24 in Katowice (2018)
COP23 in Bonn (2017)
COP22 in Marrakesh (2016)
COP21 in Paris (2015)