UITP celebrates World Environment Day: Public transport is part of #GenerationRestoration

Public transport and the environment are natural allies.

At UITP, we partner and collaborate with many different external stakeholders to not only advance public transport, but to make it known that our sector has a role to play in ways you may not always think…

For World Environment Day in 2020, UITP teamed up with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for our first collaboration to show the necessity for cities to build back better in the future. Last year, we showed the ways in which public transport was #ForNature.

Now, we are delighted to collaborate once again with the team at UNEP through our official public transport-themed video showing how our sector is part of this year’s theme of ecosystem restoration. #GenerationRestoration

World Environment Day 2021 is calling for urgent action to revive our damaged ecosystems. From parks and forests to wetlands and coasts, we all depend on healthy ecosystems for our survival.

The environment belongs to all of us, and all of us can do our part to make a difference.

We all depend on healthy ecosystems and we know that public transport is vital for delivering on climate action…it produces healthier cities, cleaner air, lower emissions and makes our cities more liveable every single day.

But do you know the many different ways in which UITP members across the globe are contributing to helping our ecosystems?

By helping to restore degraded nature we can contribute to a healthier planet.

It may not be the immediate thought to connect public transport with nature, but there are many wonderful examples of environmental restoration in Hong Kong, Milan, Hamburg, Vienna and many other places around the world!

From bees to trees to plants and peatlands…public transport has nature in mind.

•  In Hamburg, new green initiatives are being implemented to support biodiversity and Hochbahn has greened the roof of Billstedt metro station, attracting more insects and birds to provide a habitat for plants right in the middle of  a busy city.
  

• Thanks to Ferrovie Nord Milano, wildlife can now pass under train lines on the Castano-Turbigo line with the opening of protected wildlife underpassses, allowing for the safe passage for a variety of creatures and their habitats. This is part of the ecological corridor within the Ticino natural park and the Ticino Valley was recognised in 2002 as a Biosphere Reserve under the Unesco Man and Biosphere Program (MAB).

• With the opening of new routes as part of the East Rail Line in Hong Kong, the MTR Corporation manages the 32-hectare Lok Ma Chau Wetland to mitigate ecological impacts. By implementing various initiatives to provide suitable habitats for a diverse group of ecological important species, the wetlands create artificial tides at the ponds so birds can catch fish more easily and has floating rafts or artificial islands as isolated areas for birds to live on.

• Wiener Linien has plans in place to use green space to settle around 80 colonies with two million bees by summer 2022. With 456 species of wild bees calling Vienna home, this will promote biodiversity and numerous flowering plants alongside the rail track areas, which are bee friendly.

…And there are many more examples restoring nature and ecosystem protection within public transport! 

Public transport is an essential element for any city or region’s climate reduction strategy.

Cities are still projected to grow in the coming decades, but if this growth is not clustered around green public transport, we will not only overwhelm our climate, but also destroy much of our land and biodiversity.

By continuing our collaboration, UITP and UNEP are showing that public transport is the key to a sustainable, green future.

Look out for our official #WorldEnvironmentDay video in and around your city!

Download the video in ten languages

#GenerationRestoration