We are a group of leading professionals in the transport and planning sectors who together support the UK Government’s commitment to decarbonising our economy while sharing a deep concern that much greater urgency and action is needed to address the challenge society faces. Our focus is upon what we believe the Government must do if we are to decarbonise transport at the rate necessary. We start by acknowledging the scale of the challenge.  Climate scientists are shocked by the accelerating rate of changes.  The August 2021 IPCC report has been described as a ‘code red for humanity ..read more

As I write the current fuel ‘crisis’ has seen forecourts up and down the country closed as supplies ran out in the wake of panic buying that saw long queues of drivers anxious to ensure that their tanks were full to the brim. Those queues were a stark visual reminder of the scale of our reliance on the road fuel supply chain, and of the central role the car plays for many households – the risk of not being able to leap into the car to make a 200 mile journey is more than many care to contemplate, even if in reality their next trip is more likely to be 10 miles or less. It is 21 years, almost t ..read more

How does business and the workplace become carbon neutral by 2050? This is not a topic which is well covered. Last week, Addleshaw Goddard teamed up with Atkins to deliver a workshop on the responsibility and role of the workplace to cut carbon emissions. This was part of the online DecarboN8 conference which brought together researchers, practitioners and activists from around the world to examine what works for decarbonising transport, and how this can be delivered at the pace required to meet our obligations under the Paris Agreement. The workshop, entitled “I don’t always save the planet ..read more

The first page of the ‘place’ chapter in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan states “With strong local leadership and ambition these benefits [from greening transport] will be felt by everyone, everywhere. The government will continue to support such an approach through policy, regulation and guidance, and by encouraging strategic coordination and sharing of best practice across authority boundaries.” These are very encouraging words, but what will they actually mean and how will they translate into meaningful support for local leaders? How will all councils be effective partners of government ..read more

“I don’t think we’re very close to being sustainable when it comes to transport at all.  It’s all about convenience, if the world doesn’t change, then how is it feasible to walk everywhere….” This is the view of one transport user in a group we spoke to.  But it’s not an uncommon view. So how can we achieve the Government’s aspiration to “the same things differently” in its recent Transport Decarbonisation Plan. There are as many as 87 commitments in the plan to encourage a shift to cleaner and greener transport.  Many commitments will require people to think differently about t ..read more

This was the third event in our series on Rising to the Challenge: What will it take to decarbonise transport? which took place on Monday 13 September. Delegates heard from: Hilary Chipping, Chief Executive, South East Midlands LEP Claire Haigh, Chief Executive, Greener Transport Solutions Jamie Driscoll, Mayor of North of Tyne Victoria Hills, Chief Executive, Royal Town Planning Institute Martin Tugwell, Chief Executive, Transport for the North (TfN) Henri Murison, Director, Northern Powerhouse Partnership Luke Murphy, Head of the Environmental Justice Commission and Associate Director for t ..read more

It’s over 100 years since the effect of burning fossil fuel on climate has been established, and for the last 30 years the UK and other Governments have been agreeing many policy statements about reducing transport’s contribution to CO2 production, and climate change. During that period the amount of CO2 emitted by transport has increased. That’s because these good intentions have been subverted by decisions on resource allocation and infrastructures, appraised by calculations purporting to see 60 or more years into the future, but in reality, short sighted and unrealistic. Climate change is n ..read more

Transport is not just about how we get around, it fundamentally shapes our towns, our villages, our countryside, our ability to connect with friends and family, our health, education and our overall quality of life. As well as defining the areas in which we live, transport is also the largest contributor to UK domestic greenhouse gas emissions (Responsible for 27% in 2019[1]). Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), of which there are 38 in England, are business led public private partnerships with the aim of delivering sustainable economic growth. Our remit covers the development of skills, pro ..read more

This was the second event in our series on Rising to the Challenge: What will it take to decarbonise transport? which took place on Thursday 9 September. Delegates heard from: Professor Stephen Glaister, Emeritus Professor of Transport and Infrastructure, Imperial College London and LSE Claire Haigh, Chief Executive, Greener Transport Solutions Professor Phil Goodwin, Senior Fellow, Foundation for Integrated Transport Luke Ravenscroft, Lead Director on energy, environment and sustainability, Behavioural Insights Team Greg Archer, UK Director, Transport & Environment Suzanne Moir, Partner ..read more

Few things astound me more than the fact that there are approximately 1.4bn cars in the world. That’s 1.4bn 1.5-ton machines made of metal, plastic, rubber, 99% of which are still fuelled by petrol or diesel. With approximately 5 seats per car there is enough capacity to carry around 7.5bn people. The global human population is 7.9bn. Theoretically we’d only need another 80 million cars to take every human on earth on a road trip at the same time, this is less than the number of cars made each year pre-pandemic (97 million in 2020). Unsurprisingly, access to this abundance of cars is skewed to ..read more