On Friday 27th March the Department for Transport issued ‘Decarbonising Transport – Setting the Challenge’ – click here for the full report.
This announced the start of an intensive period of activity leading up to the publication of the Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP) in the Autumn of this year, and prior to the UN’s annual climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow in November.
The report starts by acknowledging that ‘Climate change is the most pressing environmental challenge of our time’. It sets out the contribution that transport currently makes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are now larger than any other sector of the economy, generating 28% of all UK carbon.
The report looks at each mode and sector of transport in turn and forecasts the change in emissions that will occur based on current policies and trends. Although GHG emissions from transport are due to fall from today’s 120 MtCO2e to around 80 MtCO2e by 2050, this is far short of what is needed to achieve the Government’s overall Net Zero targets.
Radical change is needed and DfT sets out six strategic priorities:
- Accelerating modal shift to public and active transport
- Decarbonisation of road vehicles
- Decarbonising how we get our goods
- Place-based solutions
- UK as a hub for green transport technology and innovation
- Reducing carbon in a global economy
Although it remains to be seen what impact the current pandemic has on the process, DfT plans to engage widely with the transport sector, including through a series of workshops. Stakeholders are invited to register their interest at [email protected]. PJA has already registered its interest.
The TDP promises to be the most significant development in transport policy for many years and will have implications in all spheres, including local transport policies, mode-specific transport strategies and the planning and design of transport infrastructure and new developments. We will continue to closely monitor progress on the TDP over the coming weeks and months and issue regular updates to our clients.
