UIC invites you for the Rail Sustainability index Celebration Event, 2 March 2023, UIC HQ, Paris, France
The UIC has recently completed the first-year collection and results from the Rail Sustainability index, which provides a unique rating system and a supportive digital platform to assess a company’s contribution to the achievement of the SDGs, featuring benchmarks and best practices, as well as the contribution of the sector.
On March 2nd, 2023 this one-day celebration event will end the weeklong UIC ‘Sustainability Action Week’ 27th Feb – 2nd March 2023. The event aims to both share and celebrate the sustainability successes of rail and facilitate a dialogue between the finance and sustainability communities from railways as well as experts from third parties such as private investors and multilateral development banks
Target Audience
- Potential investors
- Partners
- UIC members
- Finance professionals
- Economists
- Sustainability reporting specialists, generalists, carbon accountants and leaders
- Project and programme managers
Expected outcomes
The event aims to both share and celebrate the sustainability successes of rail and facilitate a dialogue between the finance and sustainability communities from railways as well as experts from third parties such as private investors and multilateral development banks. The anticipated outcomes are as follows:
- Dissemination of the first UIC Sustainability report for Global railways
- Recognition, celebration and best practice sharing from the best performing contributors of the RSi
- Feedback and prioritization of next steps for RSi
- Creation of new links and networks between sustainability and finance experts
- Enhanced awareness and understanding of Sustainable Finance tools, mechanisms and products
- Generation of ideas for future collaboration on the topic sustainable finance
Preliminary agenda
Morning Session – Rail Sustainability index celebration event
Welcome and Intro from the chairs
Presentation on the 1st UIC sustainability report
Best practice sharing presentation
1. Social Sustainability
2. Environmental Sustainability
3. Governance, process and management systems
Introducing the next steps for RSi
Launch for new steering committee
Feedback “World Café” workshops :
- Priority actions to improve the tool,
- SDGs and KPIs to be added,
- Ideas and feedback for a ‘projects’ version
Summary feedback
Afternoon session – Workshop on Sustainable Finance
Climate financing: what does it mean for rail?
The UIC vision for 2030 describes a future in which we are on track to decarbonise transport, with a thriving sustainable transport system that has generated many benefits for society. It paints a picture of the end of this decade when, given the right action and investment, there has been a 50% increase in modal share to rail and public transport and serves as the backbone of a sustainable mobility system. In this vision, there is a call for investment to expand and to enhance the worlds’ railways. There is an acknowledgement that the railway investment needed will come from a diverse range of sources, not only public investment, but also blended and private sources.
Given that expansion of public transport and shift to rail freight features in a large and growing number of national climate mitigation plans as well as corporate commitments to reach net zero emissions, there is an under-exploited opportunity for railways to access climate finance and carbon offsetting compensation. With increased public interest, the new EU Taxonomy and Directive for Sustainability reporting, railways will need to develop their capacity in non-financial performance reporting.
See below the agenda of the event:
13:45 Welcome and introduction. What is Sustainable Finance?
• UIC Finance platform Chair - Stefano PIERINI
14:05 Implementation of sustainability reporting (CSRD, EU taxonomy, new UIC IRS on sustainability reporting)
• Ethem Pekin, CER
• Paolo Mazzeo, EFRAG
14:20 Moderated panel discussion: the Perspective of investors (Moderated by Kara Oldhouser, AMTRAK, & vice Chair of Sustainability Platform/chair of Global Rail Sustainability Taskforce)
• Transport Minister Juan Carlos Munoz – Chile (Online)
• Pilar Lopez Camacho, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
• Marcial Bustinduy, European Investment Bank (EIB)
• Jessica Peters, Argos Fund
15:15 Break
15:20 Best practice sharing and reflections from UIC members using sustainable finance products
• Stephano Pierini, Head of Finance & Investor Relations, FS Italiane
• Pia Orthen, Head of Sustainability, Jernhusen
• Oussama Lachhab, Directeur Gestion Financière et Corporate, ONCF
15:50 Break out workshop - Small table discussion
16:20 Feedback and wrap up
Presentations
Presentations are available here
More information
Contact sustainability at uic.org