Train from Kyoto to Copenhagen urging climate change agreement

UNITED NATIONS: Train drivers from all over the world will be on board of a one-time train that will start from Kyoto in Japan and will reach Copenhagen in one month, to galvanise political will and garner public support for reaching a comprehensive global climate agreement in December.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has launched this symbolic expedition, which will cover a 9000 kilometre journey to connect the city where the last binding climate change treaty was negotiated (Kyoto Protocol) to the stage of next critical agreement.

"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," UNEP chief Achim Steiner.

"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," he added.

The train, actually a carriage, will travel across the globe through Russian Siberia and into Europe. Environmental experts will report on global warming on their journey.

One objective is to raise awareness about the use of railways as critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The transport sector already accounts for over one fifth of global CO2 greenhouse emissions, which are projected to double within only 40 years.