Belem, Brazil November 2025 – In a range of cross-sector sessions COP30, the International Council on Sustainable Infrastructure (ICSI) and the International Union of Railways (UIC) underscored that nature‑positive, people‑centric transport is no longer a lofty ambition but a practical, cost‑effective route to long‑term resilience.
The events, held in the UN controlled blue zone of the conference, brought together engineers, technology specialists, climate experts and ecologists to discuss how co‑designed, nature‑positive infrastructure can simultaneously meet climate, biodiversity, development and equity goals. Participants shared lived experiences, tested new approaches and debated how standards, digital tools and community knowledge can be woven into decision‑making to boost resilience and lower vulnerability for both people and ecosystems. The gathering showcased real‑world projects that deliver climate, biodiversity and community benefits; to elevate the role of community wisdom, codes and digital innovation in adaptive design; to spark commitments to cross‑sector collaboration with concrete follow‑up dialogues; and to highlight the economic and health co‑benefits of nature‑based solutions as cost‑effective alternatives to traditional grey infrastructure.
Drawing on Kenya’s recent railway upgrades, speaker form Kenyan Railways Corporation, Stella Ndiwa, illustrated how the early integration of environmental and social safeguards, digital tools, nature‑based solutions and community knowledge transformed a conventional rail line into a stronger, cheaper‑to‑maintain asset that enjoys a clear social licence. “When we consider together both nature and people in design, the infrastructure pays itself in resilience,” said Savina Carluccio, ICSI.
The message was echoed throughout the sessions of week: co‑planning, co‑design, co‑implementation and co‑monitoring must give genuine decision‑making power to the communities that live alongside the tracks, roads and ports. Villagers in many regions have been mapping climate risks long before the advent of GIS; technology, the speakers argued, should amplify those lived insights rather than replace them.
In parallel, the two organisations have been working together alongside other NGOs and the COP presidency of Brazil on a comprehensive “Plan to Accelerate Solution” (PAS) for resilient and adaptive transport. The framework calls for risk‑informed decision‑making that threads climate projections through every phase of a project, from conception to daily operation. It urges governments to embed resilience clauses in national adaptation strategies and public‑procurement rules, ensuring that every tender asks for climate‑smart designs. Financing mechanisms such as public‑private partnership guarantees, resilience bonds and maintenance‑focused capital are highlighted as essential levers to unlock the trillions of dollars needed for a sustainable transport overhaul. Nature is at the heart of the solutions.
Building institutional and technical capacity is the key, as does the rapid deployment of digital innovation and nature‑based solutions—green corridors, mangrove buffers and urban wetlands—that protect vulnerable corridors, ports and cities. ICSI and UIC stressed the importance of multi‑stakeholder partnerships to foster continuous knowledge exchange. Looking forward ICSI is planning capacity building work under the Symbiosis project that will bring learning form this global dialogue.