International Conference "Carbon Regulation and Decarbonization of Transport"

On March 3, 2022, the "Carbon Regulation and Decarbonization of Transport" International Conference was held in a hybrid format, organized by the International Coordinating Council on Trans-Eurasian Transportation (CCTT) and the Russian University of Transport (RUT/MIIT).

The conference was attended by representatives of railways, seaports, shipping, stevedoring, industrial, transport and logistics, IT companies, higher educational institutions, research institutes, international transport organizations, more than 90 people from 10 countries.

Gennady Bessonov, CCTT Secretary General, Alexander Klimov, Pesident of RUT/MIIT, Irina Karapityants, Director of the Institute of International Transport Communications and Head of the Center for Carbon Regulation and Sustainable Development in Transport at RUT/MIIT, in their speeches noted the importance and relevance of the development of environmental strategies and initiatives for decarbonation of railway transport.

During the conference the environmental advantages of rail transport, decarbonization goals, solutions to decarbonization problems, carbon footprint measurement system, carbon emission measurement methods, RUT/MIIT Carbon Neutral Transport project were discussed.

Vincent Wu, Director of Institutional Relations of the International Union of Railways, in his welcoming speech, noting the importance of the implementation of transport decarbonization projects for sustainable development, outlined the prospects for joint cooperation with CCTT on green agenda issues.

The presentation of RZD OJSC presented information on the Company's environmental strategy until 2030, green financing of transport projects, the environmental calculator, the automation of GHG emissions calculation, the Baikal-M environmental monitoring system, carbon footprint reduction measures, and the Company's eco-education activities.

The Korean National Railway Corporation (KORAIL) presented information on the company's environmental management system, the goals and objectives of its development until 2050, the implementation of the emissions trading system, and the smart management of environmental infrastructure.

The participants of the session got acquainted with the model of accounting and calculation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions presented by ‘Delo’ Group of Companies, the current situation in emissions in the world by types of transport, and mechanisms to stimulate the transition to carbon-neutral technologies. A difference in carbon footprint was identified depending on the direction of transportation in the Euro-Asian traffic, and recommendations were proposed to reduce the carbon footprint.

Information on key proposals to regulatory documents of Russia and the environmental strategy of RZD OJSC, forecast values of GHG emissions, achievements of RZD OJSC in reducing GHG emissions, was presented by the Institute of Problems of Natural Monopolies.

In the presentations of UMMC OJSC and Port Vostochny JSC, the conference participants were provided with information on the environmental management system of companies, the best available technologies, environmental policy and eco marathons 2018-2025.

Experts of the Center for Carbon Regulation and Sustainable Development in Transport at RUT/MIIT presented information on carbon regulation in Russia, the law on GHG emissions, green projects, world practices applied in transport, RUT CCR recommendations, international and national GHG accounting requirements, carbon footprint accounting, international GHG accounting experience, platform solutions structure of open-source GHG emission databases, Poseidon principle.

Within the framework of the conference, an Agreement was signed between CCTT and RUT (MIIT) on the accession of CCTT to the "Carbon Neutral Transport" Consortium of the Russian University of Transport.

Taking into account the recognized international authority and coordinating role in the regulation of reliable multimodal transportation, ensuring its carbon neutrality, the conference participants proposed to work out the possibility of introducing a green certification for participants in Trans-Eurasian rail and multimodal transportation.