Aldersgate Group publishes report on priorities for decarbonising transport
Mon 11 March 2019
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The Aldersgate Group - the business stakeholder alliance for environmentally sustainable mobility - has published a new report which argues that improving overall efficiency of the transport system will be just as important as investing in new technologies and infrastructure in the quest for decarbonisation. The report delivers a range of policy recommendations, informed by a wide range of the Group's buiness stakeholders.
The report recommends government take a system-wide approach to decarbonising transport by:
1. Establishing an integrated road and rail strategy;
2. Devolving long-term funding and key powers to local authorities to help them develop local and low carbon transport strategies;
3. Improving local air quality by moving the most polluting journeys outside of urban areas, by rolling out an ambitious network of clean air zones with common standards and minimising freight emissions through the use of Urban Consolidation Centres and the rail network;
4. Growing the UK’s global manufacturing base for low and zero emission vehicles, with a particular focus on expanding the domestic market through guaranteed plug-in grants until the mid-2020s and introducing tightening vehicle emission standards after Brexit;
5. Providing targeted innovation support to complex parts of the transport sector such as for heavy commercial vehicles, long-distance road journeys and the electrification of rail;
6. Using measures announced under the Resources and Waste Strategy such as extended producer responsibility schemes and product standards to drive greater resource efficiency across the UK automotive industry.
The report notes that while UK carbon emissions have fallen by over 42% since 1990, thanks mainly to actions in the power sector, there has been relatively little overall change in the level of emissions from the transport sector.
The report says that given the significant challenges faced by the UK’s automotive industry in light of recent announcements by Honda, Nissan, Ford and Jaguar Land Rover, the UK cannot afford to be left behind in the global race to design and manufacture low and zero emission vehicles.
Nick Molho, Executive Director, Aldersgate Group, said: “With emissions flatlining for several years now, Government needs to fundamentally rethink its transport policy and work across departments to deliver the modern and ultra-low emission transport system the UK needs.
"This means taking an integrated view of the whole transport system to ensure that new transport infrastructure projects deliver the best environmental and economic outcomes, empowering local authorities to develop low carbon transport systems, incentivising greater resource efficiency across the automotive industry and targeting innovation support to technologies that can help cut emissions in difficult areas such as heavy commercial vehicles, long-distance journeys and rail.”
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