The significance of climate change for society and in turn highways and transportation is profound. Taking action to address it has become central to professional concerns. The Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) has climate action as one of its three core themes. Supported with sponsorship from Mott MacDonald and Ringway, it embarked in 2024 on an initiative called CLIMATES:

Changing Landscapes for Infrastructure and Mobility: Assessing Transport and Environment Scenarios.

Sue Percy CBE, Chief Executive, CIHT said:

“Two major challenges will define the work of many transport professionals now and for decades to come. First, the need to achieve deep and rapid reductions in the carbon emissions produced by transport, including those associated with the construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure. Second, there will be a need to adapt our systems and networks to become more resilient in the face of the accelerating impacts of climate change.”

“To support this transformation, we commissioned CLIMATES to ensure that CIHT members and the wider sector could help shape how we deliver our commitment on positive climate action. The scale and complexity of the climate crisis can at times feel overwhelming. It is easy to think that individual efforts are too small to make a meaningful difference. The recommendations that we have outlined in this report aim to create a pathway for change that will require support from across the sector and beyond.” 

The seven recommendations in the report are:

1. Equipping professionals for climate action: CIHT should enhance training and development to equip and upskill transport professionals with the skills and leadership needed to drive climate initiatives.
2. Public-focused, positively-oriented storytelling: The sector should collaborate with effective communicators to promote the benefits of climate action, engage the public with positive messaging and build public support.
3. Demonstrating that transport decarbonisation is on track: Governments must show progress on decarbonisation and transparently align transport plans with expert climate advice, while professional bodies should provide oversight and challenge.
4. Effective working between professionals and government: Review and improve how government and professionals collaborate on climate goals, using both top-down and bottom-up approaches.
5. Reappraising appraisal to prioritise future wellbeing: Shift transport investment priorities including a reform of investment appraisal to emphasise low-carbon outcomes, resilience, and long-term wellbeing.
6. Prioritising climate action in national transport strategies: Ensure the UK’s Integrated National Transport Strategy places climate action at its core, linking it to economic and social benefits.
7. Pricing to address transport’s true costs to society: Identify and apply fiscal measures that account for transport’s full societal costs, considering impacts on different groups.

Professor Glenn Lyons, President, CIHT said:

“Other major issues in the news and summer sunshine may draw attention away, but the need for ongoing climate action is nothing short of existential. The CIHT CLIMATES report uniquely reflects what hundreds of highways and transportation professionals have to say on the matter. It provides clear-headed coverage of a multi-faceted ‘wicked’ problem and what needs to be done. The set of seven recommendations for doubling down on climate action must all be acted upon – the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts in the contribution this can make to system change. Included in the recommendations is the need for positive storytelling that reminds us that the changes taking place to address climate change can benefit not only our children and grandchildren in years to come but offer good news for us all in the present as well. Now is the time for everyone to be changemakers!”

Thomas Knight, Mott MacDonald transport market lead for UK and Europe said:

“CIHT CLIMATES stands out as a bold and inclusive step forward for the transport sector —grounded not just in expert opinion, but in the lived experience and aspirations of professionals across the industry.” 

“The seven recommendations offer a clear and actionable path to accelerate climate action, and as a joint-sponsor Mott MacDonald is proud to have supported this important work. The recommendation for ‘Reappraising Appraisal’ is particularly pertinent when set in the context of long-term outcomes and the forthcoming 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy.” 

“As a sector, we have both the responsibility and the opportunity to lead the way in building a more resilient, low-carbon future. Now is the time to turn insight into impact.”

Mitesh Solanki, Vice President, CIHT and Managing Director, Ringway said:

“It has been a pleasure for Ringway to be involved in CIHT Climates. The next steps are to focus on what we can achieve rather than just influence. Yes, we can affect change by working with our stakeholders to design, plan and budget for improved resilience in our transportation networks. But we also need to consider how we adapt to drive a better outcome for the end users that rely on our sector to connect us to our end destinations right now.”

About CLIMATES

Changing Landscapes for Infrastructure and Mobility: Assessing Transport and Environment Scenarios

In an uncertain world, what priority actions in highways and transportation should we double down on in the next three years to meet the unfolding challenges of climate change as we look out to 2035 and beyond?

CLIMATES has been designed to take its participants on a journey with the help of futures techniques. This initiative was to help professionals explore what may lie ahead and explore how we can meet the challenges of climate change. 

CIHT CLIMATES has examined possible climate change futures and developed a series of practical recommendations to enable the sector to take meaningful and appropriate action. It has done so by running 15 in-person and online workshops looking at the UK as well as Hong Kong, India, and the United Arab Emirates. This has been complemented by an online engagement survey. Over 300 highways and transportation professionals from within and beyond CIHT have taken part.

Led by CIHT President Professor Glenn Lyons and sponsored by Mott MacDonald and Ringway, CIHT CLIMATES is:

• better equipping professionals to determine their priorities and actions in the present in the face of future climates change possibilities
• giving CIHT members a greater voice to inform how the Institution champions its climate action theme
  Read more here www.ciht.org.uk/climates