Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge
At the UN Climate Summit in September 2014, UIC presented the Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge – Technical Report. This provided a vision for the development of the railway sector at the global level as a sustainable and low carbon mode of transportation. The challenge included three sets of voluntary targets: to improve rail efficiency, to decarbonise electricity supply, and to achieve a more sustainable balance of transport modes. During the 2015 COP21 event, ‘Train to Paris’, the first ‘Railway Climate Responsibility’ pledge was presented to high-level representatives of the United Nations. The Climate Responsibility pledge was signed by more than 60 UIC members, representing most of global rail activity.
In 2019, UIC took the pledge one step further by aligning its 2050 CO2 emissions target to achieve the Paris Agreement. The Railway Climate Responsibility Pledge 2019 is an extension to the Pledge signed in 2015.
Signatories of the pledge:
- Acknowledge the critical importance to take immediate action for a more sustainable future.
- Recognise the central role of railways in the fight against climate change.
- As a member of the worldwide community of railway operators and infrastructure managers, commit to take a leading role in the actions to mitigate climate change, by reducing their company’s carbon footprint and supporting a shift towards a more sustainable balance of transport modes.
In order to achieve this, signatories commit to reduce their company’s specific energy consumption and CO2 emission, and through this contribute to the UIC “Low Carbon Rail Transport Challenge”, presented in 2014 at the United Nations Climate Summit, and to the Rail Climate Responsibility Pledge, signed in 2015; Carbon Neutrality by 2050; Contribute to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
