COPop: getting to the COP by train and bus

Today, Friday 7 December 2018, 35 DWARSers and other green youth left by train from Amsterdam Central Station for the UN climate summit COP24 (the 24th Conference of the Parties) in Katowice. Travelling by public transport instead of by plane will save more than 14 tonnes of CO2 emissions, thus the COPop trip shows why we want more attention to the major climate impact of mobility. The aviation sector is still not part of the international climate negotiations, but in Poland we will offer a manifesto to concerned politicians, in order to draw attention to this elephant in the international climate chamber.

The NS spokesperson, MP Suzanne Kröger (GroenLinks) and Freek Kallenberg of Environmental Defence waved us off this morning.

 The trip is organised by DWARS (GroenLinkse young people), Jong Milieu Actief, the Young Climate Movement and Green Tickets. En route on the train from Amsterdam to Berlin, the 35 young people will work with a number of young NS employees on plans for the future of sustainable mobility.

On 1 July 2018, more than 200,000 flights took place in a single day for the first time, while one flight to a sunny destination is equivalent to a lifetime of driving around in a Hummer in terms of climate impact, according to Greenpeace. The aviation industry pays no excise duty on paraffin and no VAT on airline tickets, while VAT on train tickets is going up from 6% to 9% next year. COPop! therefore believes that we can no longer leave aviation out of the international climate negotiations and must act now to tackle this polluter as well.

COP on!
www.copop.eu