Climate Express arrives at Copenhagen
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The campaign kicked off on Nov. 5 with the UIC Climate Change and Rail Seminar in the Japanese city of Kyoto -- the birthplace of the current Climate Change Protocol, the current commitment period of which is due to end in 2012.
A small team of environmental experts, NGOs and journalists started from Kyoto and a few days later boarded the Trans-Siberian Express in Vladivostok, east Russia.
During the 10-day journey crossing Siberia and other regions, the group stopped at Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Novgorodand ended their journey in Moscow early this month.
Each stop gave the team an opportunity to meet the local environment authorities, experts and journalists, discover innovative railway technologies, and witness the impact of climate change on the Russian territories.
![An environmentalist poses with his bicycle in front of the 'Climate Express' in Brussels, capital of Belgium, Dec. 5, 2009.[Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20091207/00114320f5750c86ae5610.jpg "An environmentalist poses with his bicycle in front of the 'Climate Express' in Brussels, capital of Belgium, Dec. 5, 2009.[Xinhua]") |
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An environmentalist poses with his bicycle in front of the "Climate Express" in Brussels, capital of Belgium, Dec. 5, 2009.[Xinhua] |
The Climate Express is an on-board conference on climate change with special focus on the role of transport, departing from Brussels on Dec. 5 at 9:10 a.m. (GMT0810) and arriving 14 hours later in Copenhagen.
The Climate Express, which was be powered by 100 percent renewable energy, took on board more than 400 climate change negotiators, campaigners and other high-profile personalities going to Copenhagen to participate in COP 15.
"We are on the road to nowhere if existing policies and economic models prevail with their over emphasis on private cars and on shifting shipments of goods to the roads," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, who is also among the passengers on board the Climate Express.
"The Train to Copenhagen project is a showcase of sustainable transport solutions that will be part and parcel of a resource-efficient, low-carbon Green Economy of the 21st Century. By Sealing the Deal on an ambitious climate agreement in Copenhagen, governments will get into gear to propel the world to a low-carbon future so that societies may also finally embark on a journey to more sustainable transport," said Steiner.
