The Committee on Climate Change (the CCC) is an independent, statutory body established under the Climate Change Act 2008, whose role it is to provide independent advice on meeting carbon budgets and preparing for climate change, as well as monitoring current government efforts. In July this year they published a report stating that government efforts were severely lagging, including efforts made to reduce emissions from transport. 

The facts:

Transport currently accounts for 27% of sector greenhouse gas emissions, which means it is the largest emitting sector.

90% of  transport emissions are from road transport.

Emissions at similar level as in 1990 due to rising demand for car and van travel and increasing emissions from aviation and shipping.

The government has now published their response to the recommendations made by the CCC. Central to the government's plans is the uptake of electric vehicles, and the government plans to invest to bring the UK to the forefront of the electric vehicle (EV) market, both in terms of positioning the UK as a leading manufacturer and exporter of EVs and associated technology, and in terms of uptake of electric vehicles. Currently, around 4% of new cars sold are electric vehicles with a total market share of approximately 1.5%. The government does not intend to move forward the date where petrol- and diesel vehicles are sold to 2035 as recommended by the CCC. 

As part of the response the government also announced that they are working on a Transport Decarbonisation Plan "that will review the entire system and put forward the policies and actions needed to help deliver our carbon budgets, whilst looking at the supply chain of each modal sector and adopting a place-based approach." Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said: 

“We want to work with industry and communities around the country to develop this plan – to make our towns and cities better places to live, help to create new jobs, improve air quality and our health, and take urgent action on climate change.”

Recently published CIHT advice Better Planning, Better Transport, Better Places addresses how the integration of planning and transport is needed to ensure that we stop relying on car-based transport, petrol or electric, and start building sustainable, healthy and accessible places for people where the need for travelling by car is drastically reduced. 

Source: www.gov.uk and www.gov.uk