The demand for sustainable mobility is growing rapidly while at the same time, the fight against climate change and atmospheric pollution has emerged as one of the paramount challenges for the European transportation sector. According to the EU Sustainable & Smart Mobility Strategy, the gradual change and modernization of European transportation should give way to a fundamental transformation. The scenarios presented in the EC’s strategy, aligned with those supporting the 2030 climate target plan, suggest that—with the right level of ambition—the combination of policy measures detailed in this strategy can achieve a 90% reduction in transport sector emissions by 2050.

Air transport is increasingly perceived as one of the key carbon-intensive sectors. It's often labelled a hard-to-abate industry, primarily because of technological limitations that make it difficult to directly reduce carbon emissions. The recently adopted EU policy measures and regulations, intended to make transport more sustainable, have established a stringent framework for the aviation value chain. In the absence of revolutionary net-zero aviation fuel and propulsion technologies, the aviation sector faces a monumental task to achieve the carbon dioxide emission targets set by the European Green Deal, among other EU strategies and policies.

Currently, the largest infrastructure project in Europe is being built in Poland - Centralny Port Komunikacyjny. CPK is a planned multi-modal transport and interchange hub that will integrate air, rail and road transport in the region. As part of the project, a new airport and a major rail hub will be built in the centre of Poland, connecting CPK with the rest of the country and other European countries via newly constructed high-speed railway lines.

In its commitment to combating climate change and fostering a shared green future, CPK has embedded sustainability into its investment programme from the very beginning. The aim is to transform the mobility industry in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe. Highly ambitious climate mitigation and pollution reduction targets have been set during the planning and design phases, positioning CPK to become the first "Net-Zero Ready" airport in the region upon its inauguration. This undertaking aims to set new standards for green airports globally.

This unique sustainable strategy will be showcased by CPK in collaboration with LOT Polish Airlines at the event titled "Sustainable Journey: Navigating the Future of Aviation". The presentation, which will bring together representatives from the European Commission, CPK (the new Polish airport investor and its future operator), LOT (the Polish national air carrier), IATA (The International Air Transport Association), and industry experts, will culminate in a panel discussion. This debate will focus on ensuring European aviation's sustainability without undermining its global competitiveness and will also contemplate potential solutions, opportunities, and recent proofs of concept.

Organised by: CPK
Media Partner: Euractiv

Despite numerous initiatives to curb methane emissions, concentrations continue to rise, posing the greatest threat to passing irreversible climate tipping points. In the face of ever-rising temperatures and worsening impacts of climate change, swift and bold leadership to reduce global methane emissions remains the most urgent low hanging fruit available to policymakers.

The passage of the EU’s first bloc-wide legislation on methane emissions is underway. One of the key issues for trialogues will be the question of what the EU can – and should – be doing about methane emissions beyond its borders.

In recent years, the EU has leveraged its buying power to encourage global leadership and action against climate change, establishing import rules to curb the negative impacts of deforestation, biofuels, and carbon-intensive products. With the EU importing over 90% of its oil and gas, it now has an opportunity to drastically cut methane emissions in the energy sector by establishing an EU Methane Import Standard in the forthcoming Methane Regulation.

On the flipside, legislation that only accounts for domestic methane emissions would be a major step back from the oft-stated goal of the Von der Leyen Commission for the EU to lead from the front on this issue.

With many important questions surrounding the feasibility, legality, and broader impact of such a standard, this event will bring a diverse group of policy-makers, NGOS, academics, and industry stakeholders together for a constructive discussion on how the EU can best tackle methane emissions abroad. The event will showcase CATF and Carbon Limit’s new report on this issue, and build clarity around the legal, regulatory, and technical steps needed to create a comprehensive, effective, and WTO-compliant standard.

When one considers the future of transport, typically it is assumed to be simple extrapolation and evolution of existing technologies. On the one hand – it's about spreading its range (i.e. construction of further High-speed rail lines), on the other – it’s about continuous improvements that allow to reach better operational parameters and reliability while reducing unit variable costs (i.e. decreased usage of energy per passenger km). However, these continuous improvements are reaching their barriers: railways, after almost 200 years of improvements, seem to have limited possibilities for further upgrades of efficiency, while aviation – despite declared ambitious net-zero goals – is still far away from reaching these targets.

Today, societies have two main goals related to transportation. First, they want it to be as sustainable as possible, as the climate crisis becomes an increasingly important issue. Second, the reduced carbon footprint cannot come at a cost of reduced mobility. Railways, considered as the most sustainable mode of transportation, can offer an alternative to regional aviation to an extent, but with speeds up to 300kph they are not competitive at distances above 1000km (i.e. at a majority of intra-European “regional” routes). In other words, there is a substantial market gap – lack of a next-gen zero-emitting transport mode, which would be competitive against aviation at distances ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 km.

A European company, Nevomo, is bridging this gap by developing a new generation of High-speed railways. During the first part of the event Nevomo will unveil results of unprecedented levitation tests on conventional railway infrastructure using its revolutionary MagRail technology. Levitation capabilities drastically reduce friction, increase efficiency and speed, while retrofitting existing rail systems is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly, and allows for interoperability with already deployed trains.

After that panelists will discuss the social, economic, and environmental impact, as well as potential financing opportunities of levitating MagRail trains on already existing railway infrastructure.