MPs group says government must make stronger commitment to sustainable transport to meet targets

Fri 02 September 2016 View all news

In a new report, the Environmental Audit Committee says that the Government needs a clear strategy to increase the use of ultra-low emission vehicles and reduce air pollution so that it can meet decarbonisation and air quality targets.

The Committee says that the Government's projections show they will miss the target for ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) to make up 9% of all new car and van sales by 2020, which the Committee on Climate Change says is necessary to meet our climate change targets in the most cost-effective way. The EAC is also concerned that the Department has no medium-term strategy to promote these vehicles after 2020.

Mary Creagh MP, Chair of the Committee, said: "The uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles like electric cars, is too low to meet the UK's climate change targets at the lowest cost to the public. Air quality targets that were supposed to be met in 2010 won't be hit until 2020 at the earliest. And it's been almost a year since we discovered VW had fitted cars with cheat devices, but government has still to decide what action to take against the company."

She added: "We need 9% of all new cars to be ultra-low emission vehicles by 2020 if we're going to meet our climate change targets at the lowest cost to the public. But the Department's forecasts show it will get only around half way to this target. This failure risks making it more expensive to meet our long term carbon reduction targets. The Department should also aim for almost two thirds of new cars and vans to be ultra-low emission vehicles by 2030. With no strategy, we have no confidence that The DfT will meet this target."

Local authorities and the car industry described ways in which the Department could increase electric vehicle use, both private and public, over the next decade and beyond.

The LowCVP had provided evidence to the Committee at an earlier stage of its inquiry. (Story link here.)

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