UIC participates in international conference and awards ceremony held at United Nations Headquarters in Geneva

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UIC participated in the first international transport and environmental conference “Sustainable Development Goals of Sustainable Transport and Peace”, which was held at the UN Palace of Nations on 12 – 13 April 2017 in Geneva and brought together participants and guests from 30 countries around the world. The conference was held under the auspices of the International Association of Peace Foundations (led by the world chess champion Anatoly Karpov) and the Organising Committee of the International Transport Awards “Golden Chariot” with Mr Albert Zhukov as its Chairman.

The fact that the opening of the Forum coincided with the International Cosmonautics day (International day of Human Space flight) was quite symbolic. The astronauts who were working on the orbit offered their congratulations to the Forum attendees and that marked a great start to the conference.

The Forum agenda included the following topics:

Use of innovative technologies in terms of tackling the environmental challenges of today and tomorrow as an effective tool of sustainable transport development

Environmental initiatives and industry programmes. Research and innovation: what is the best way to make transport more eco-friendly? Best practices (examples of ways to reduce costs and emissions). Practical solutions for implementation of sustainable transport development.

IT development and use of digitalisation as a cost reducing factor and an opportunity to lower environmental impact. Use of innovative technologies in sustainable transport development.

The list of participants and guests at the Forum and at the following “Golden Chariot Awards” ceremony comprised representatives of international organisations and associations and public authorities, in particular UN experts, and representatives of world transport associations such as OSJD (Organisation for Cooperation of Railways), TIACA (International Air Cargo Association), UIC (International Union of Railways), CCTT (Coordinating Council on Trans-Siberian Transportation), FERRMED, CIT (Committee on International Transport), IRU (International Road-Transport Union), FIATA (International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations), BRICS-PED, the international Forum of the Cities of the New Silk Road, and other heads of the world’s largest industry companies. A number of universities ware represented with a high-level delegation, in particular Moscow State University of Railway Engineering (MIIT) and Beijing Jiaotong University, etc.

On behalf of UIC, Paul Véron, Director in charge of Relations with Members and Partner Organisations, focused his presentation on “The action of UIC in implementing sustainable transport goals” and in particular on the work and activities related to energy efficiency and reduction of emissions.

During the “Golden Chariot Awards” ceremony (with UIC as one of the supporting partners), several railway transport companies were presented with awards, in particular from China (CRRC) for “Excellence in Railway Transport”, Ukraine (UZ) for “Excellence in Railway Transport”, and Luxembourg (CFL Multimodal) for “Achievements in Global Logistics Services Provision”.

After the “Golden Chariot” ceremony, all participants adopted the Resolution, according to which a number of proposals would be forwarded to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, namely:

The implementation of a programme to achieve the goals of sustainable development in transport, with the support of non-state international transport associations and organisations;