COP 10, Buenos Aires, 06 December 2004UNFCCC

Mads Bergendorff

UIC Environmental Advisor

Building on the Railways’ environmental strengths

• Rail today is 3-10 times more

energy efficient than road transport

• Further improvement potential 20-50%

due to optimising of load and traffic

management

• Electric train operation is already 100%

compatible with Renewable Energy

sources e.g. hydro power

COP 10, Buenos Aires, 06 December 2004UNFCCC

• Rail today is the most energy efficient long-haul freight transport

• Rail freight is strong in North America, Russia, India, China, and Australia

• Rail freight is weak in Latin America, Europe and Africa

Building on the Railways’ environmental strengths (1)

COP 10, Buenos Aires, 06 December 2004UNFCCC

Australian Example: CO2 Emission

reductions in the railways• Through a voluntary CO2 reduction

program, Queensland Rail (QR) reduced its

baseline scenario with 486,000 tons of CO2

equivalents from 1998/99 to 2002/3 while

increasing its production.

Building on the Railways’ environmental strengths (2)

COP 10, Buenos Aires, 06 December 2004UNFCCC

Building on the Railways’ environmental strengths (3)

Northern American rail freight

in the lead• In the US and Canada more

than 40% of freight tonnage is

rail-based • Since 1980, the rail freight

operators increased production

with 62% and at the same time

increased energy efficiency with

71%! • Rail fuel savings equals to

375,000 households' petrol use

for their car.

COP 10, Buenos Aires, 06 December 2004UNFCCC

• Rail today is the most energy efficient form of passenger transport - but depending on use cases

• Passenger Rail is strong in Europe, Japan, Russia, India, and China.

• Passenger rail is weak in North and South America, Africa and Australia

Building on the Railways’ environmental strengths (4)

COP 10, Buenos Aires, 06 December 2004UNFCCC

Example: German Railways

(DB AG) initiated the project

“Energie Sparen”

• saved 10% energy from 2002 to

2003 by educating drivers to

drive more energy efficient

• Savings 8 M€ per year!

• DB AG reduced specific CO2

emissions 25% between 1990 to

2003 as part of an agreement

with the German government due

to the Kyoto commitment.

Building on the Railways’ environmental strengths (5)

Change in long-distance traffic [kWh/km]

01 07 10 12 01 07 10

- 10%

2002 2003

COP 10, Buenos Aires, 06 December 2004UNFCCC

www.uic.asso.fr/html/environnement/click on “External Effects of Transport”

Costs of climate

change from transport

is only one part of the

mobility equation:• Accidents• Local air pollution • Noise• Urban effects• Nature and landscape

COP 10, Buenos Aires, 06 December 2004UNFCCC

Average external costs: Passenger (EU15 year 2000)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Car Bus Rail Aviation

€ per 1000 pkm

Accidents NoiseAir Pollution Nature & LandscapeUp- and Downstream Processes Urban EffectsClimate change low scenario Climate change (difference low/high scenario)©INFRAS

76.0

37.7

22.9

52.5

COP 10, Buenos Aires, 06 December 2004UNFCCC

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Road Freight Rail Aviation Waterborne

€ per 1000 tkm

Accidents NoiseAir Pollution Nature & LandscapeUp- and Downstream Processes Urban EffectsClimate change low scenario Climate change (difference low/high scenario)©INFRAS

87.8

17.9

271.3

22.5

Average external costs: Freight (EU15 year 2000)

COP 10, Buenos Aires, 06 December 2004UNFCCC

Conclusions

• Sustainable transport systems are needed in order to curb the GHG Emissions and achieve the Kyoto Protocol

• Modal shift towards railways and public transport would benefit society and environment serving the developing countries’ need for economic growth

• A level playing field reflecting true costs of transport for all modes

• Need for substantiate new rail infrastructure investments within the next 10-20 years starting now!

• True integration of planning, trade, transport and environment policies