A study by the political think tank Onward shows North Warwickshire, Eden (Cumbria) and Daventry are the three local authorities with the highest transport emissions 'score' followed by South Northamptonshire and Uttlesford in Essex.

At the lower end of the scale are the London boroughs of Islington, Hackney, Harrow and Camden. But the City of London features in the top 10 authorities for transport emissions due, it is said, to its low population. Barrow-in-Furness is the only authority outside the capital ranked in the bottom 10 for emissions per capita.

The report points out the top 10 areas ranked by transport emissions per capita ‘are mostly in road reliant industrial and commuter belts outside of major cities’.
Report author Ted Christie-Miller says all authorities “can and should do better in the years to come” if the country is to reach its 2050 net zero target.

He added: “Many areas that have for a long time faced economic and social decline in the UK have poor and weak transport infrastructure. The Government needs to continue to foster technological innovation in the transport sector and encourage people to choose greener, more resilient forms of transport fit for the future.”

The report titled ‘Getting to Zero’ is part of a programme of research which aims to better understand the political and practical challenges to reaching the 2050 goal, ahead of the UK hosting the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow in November.

A Getting to Zero commission is jointly chaired by Caroline Flint, a former Shadow Energy & Climate Change Secretary and Dame Caroline Spelman, a former Environment Secretary.

It finds that as the UK goes further and faster to delivering net zero ‘there will increasingly be geographic, political and economic trade offs that need to be better understood and mitigated’.

The UK’s least prosperous regions disproportionately rely on heavily emitting industries for jobs, it adds, and that seats making up the so called ‘Red Wall’ in the north and the Midlands are likely to suffer the highest levels of disruption from efforts to decarbonise industries.

Caroline Spelman said: “Reducing carbon consumption to net zero is the socially responsible decision our generation has taken to help future generations, but we must make sure the impact of this does not aggravate existing inequalities in our country.”

Caroline Flint added: “The challenge of net zero is immense; the deadlines are rushing towards us. This requires faster decision making than we are used to in British politics, as we change our industries, our homes, how we get from place to place and the very energy we use. In cleaning up our act, no community should be left behind.”

To read the report, visit ukonward.com/gettingtozero

(Photograph: Robin Stott and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence)