In June 2024, we completed the project entitled Update of the Plan for Adaptation of Railway Infrastructure to Climate Change. This is our next successful cooperation with PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. – the national railway infrastructure manager. The aim of the study was to comprehensively prepare PLK SA and the railway infrastructure for climate change and to take measures to mitigate climate change, including the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.
The development of the titular ‘Plan for Adaptation of Railway Infrastructure to Climate Change’, was preceded by a number of expert studies on adaptation and mitigation of climate change.
The first phase included an analysis of the impact of rail infrastructure on climate change and the impact of climate change on rail infrastructure. We analysed the main sources of emissions from the operation and modernisation of railway lines and their associated infrastructure, and determined the vulnerability and risk of climate change impacts on the railway infrastructure in Poland under current and future climate conditions. Particularly important in this context was the consideration of the latest climate change scenarios according to the 6th IPCC report, hence we independently scaled global climate change data to a regional scale for the entire Poland.
In the next stage, we developed a ‘Guidance on how to integrate climate issues into documentation’ – a manual setting out how to analyse the climate impact of railway projects and the impact of climate change on railway projects. This study was prepared based on the latest EU guidelines, including but not limited to:
We have also prepared ‘Guidance on how to verify compliance with the EU climate taxonomy in documentation’.
Another particularly important instruction that was created within the framework of the contract is the ‘Guidelines for reporting greenhouse gas emissions/carbon footprint and calculator to perform the necessary calculations for the PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. capital group’, which prepares PLK SA to report its carbon footprint in accordance with the CSRD directive.
The culmination of our work was the development of a ‘Plan for Adaptation of Railway Infrastructure to Climate Change’, in which we identified adaptation and mitigation measures at the organisational level and at the level of infrastructure design and operation to prepare PLK SA for the challenges and risks identified earlier.
The results of our work, in the part made available for public inspection, can be found on the PKP PLK SA website: https://www.plk-sa.pl/klienci-i-kontrahenci/ochrona-srodowiska.