The event brought together scientists, policy makers and practitioners to explore the the latest round of reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body through which leading scientists advise governments around the world on the changing climate and its likely impacts.

The transport workshop, facilitated by Siobhan Campbell, Deputy Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department for Transport paid particular attention to what needs to happen before 2030 if we are to stay on course to decarbonise UK transport by the 2050 deadline – and also to adapt our networks to the changes that are already baked in.

The session concluded that before jumping into the detail of individual policies, the UK needs to establish a set of principles against which packages of actions can be developed. As an example, do we accept the advice in the Climate Change Committee’s 6^th Carbon Budget that car miles per head must be reduced?

Potential actions discussed included:

• Disincentivising car ownership and mileage through measures such as reduced car parking, car free neighbourhoods, whilst encouraging car clubs, and use of e-bikes/e-scooters etc.
• Reducing transport distance via brining more services such as health and education closer to users
• Improving public awareness of climate impact of car use including the scale of climate impact, embodied carbon in cars and the relative impacts of small cars vs large cars

The outcomes from the session will be submitted as evidence to the UK government’s current Review of Net Zero.

More information on the session and CIHT’s work on transport decarbonisation is available from our Climate Change Associate, Andrew.crudgington@ciht.org.uk. 

More information on the session and CIHT’s work on transport decarbonisation is available from our Climate Change Associate, Andrew.crudgington@ciht.org.uk.