Context
Transport infrastructure (roads, railways, waterways, terminals, airports and ports) and operations are instrumental to safe, efficient and reliable movements of people to their destinations and goods to markets. Due to its function, transport plays a significant role in supporting local, regional or national development. If transport cannot provide its function, adverse economic and social effects can be experienced.
Authorities, together with infrastructure owners and managers, play an important role through planning, investment, operational, as well as legislative processes in ensuring current and future seamless movement of people and goods. They work on, for example, infrastructure and its connectivity, interoperability standards, corridors management, harmonization and simplification of border-crossing formalities and administrative formalities and application of new technologies and digitalization.
The task of ensuring seamless current and future transport is a challenging one. There is a huge range of components or influences that need to be assessed and addressed, especially in the planning phase, and in particular for infrastructure, whose lifespan may reach 30 to 50 years, or longer, and during this time it should continue to serve its planned function.
There is a growing need to consider the physical risks arising from climate change in transport and infrastructure planning and operations. Experience shows that extreme weather events due to climate change, slower onset climate changes (such as sea level rise or permafrost thaw) and cumulative effects may cause transport infrastructure damage and premature degradation, disruption to operations and pressure on supply chain capacity and efficiency. In the light of latest projections on climate change and given the planning horizons and lifespans of transport infrastructure, the need for adaptation and resilience-building is becoming increasingly urgent.
Therefore, UNECE through the Group of Experts on assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation for inland transport is working towards raising awareness, building capacity and integrating knowledge from countries and the scientific community on climate change impact assessment and adaptation for inland transport.
FAI "ROSDORNII" – Russian Road Research Institute – in collaboration with UNECE Sustainable Transport Division is organising a conference for raising awareness among transport professionals about the urgency of assessing climate change impacts on transportation systems and identifying ways to make transport climate resilience.
Objective
The event is held to raise awareness of transport experts about the techniques to assess future climate impacts on transport systems and find suitable adaptation measures in order to prevent future transport disruptions.
More specifically, the event will:
(i) discuss climate change trends and projections and expected implication from climate change on transport system,
(ii) consider various techniques for assessing future climate impacts on critical transport system,
(iii) apply those techniques to analyse future impact on an important transport corridor connecting Europe and Asia,
(iv) consider ways to prevent future socioeconomic impacts on this corridor from climate change, and
(v) use of new technologies in changing environment.
Target audience
The event is to attract experts also those participating in 2021 Moscow Transport Week, in particular transport experts from countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia, to discuss issues related to climate change impacts and transport adaptation to them.
Languages
The conference will be held in Russian with simultaneous interpretation to English.
Attendance
The Conference will be held as a hybrid event. Participants unable to attend in person will have the possibility to join the conference online.
Registration
Please register at: https://rosdornii.ru/events/climate-change-conference