The Big Picture

Climate Change - the Challenge

Climate change has been described by the Department for Transport (DfT) as the world’s greatest environmental challenge. The UK’s climate is no longer stable, but changing with the recent trend being hot, dry summers and warm wet winters. This will affect future transport policies and infrastructures.

The average global temperature is rising and the hottest summer for the UK was recorded in 2003. Changes in the global climate are usually due to a mixture of human and natural causes. Human causes are the emissions of greenhouse gases such as Carbon Dioxide (CO₂). Transport contributes to about 15% of global CO₂ emissions and the 23% of the UK’s domestic CO₂ emissions are from transport, with 93% of all CO₂ emissions coming from domestic road transport.

UK domestic transport sector CO₂ emissions 2005

The Stern Review

The Stern Review (2006) highlighted that climate change will not only affect human lives and cause detrimental environmental effects, but it will effect economic growth and thus the competitiveness of the UK. The Stern Review suggests that the UK should cut its CO₂ emissions by at least 60% by 2050, which would be achieved by a manageable global cost of 1 per cent of GDP. The costs of failing to adapt to climate change would far outweigh those of taking early action. Inaction could lead to rises in temperature resulting in damages equivalent to 5-20% of global GDP.

Climate change will affect businesses of all sizes across the globe. Climate change can affect businesses directly through disrupting the production of goods and services, or by influencing customer needs and demands. Businesses can also be affected by indirect costs of increased costs of insurance and climate change legislation.

What is Sustainable Development?

A widely-used and accepted international definition of sustainable development is:

"Development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

Throughout the world nations are developing in an unsustainable way, following the westernised countries example of living beyond your means. Through our unsustainable way of life be it through over fishing or deforestation, our negative consumption patterns are having a detrimental effect on our environment and on our climate.

Without making a step change to living within our means, we face an uncertain and insecure world. Sustainable development has gone beyond the ‘right thing to do’ but it is now essential for the survival of the human race.

Incentives to encourage people to purchase lower carbon vehicles and fuels is limited, calling for the need for more sustainable transport options. Sustainable transport options can be encouraged by reducing the length of journeys which can lead to the use of more sustainable modes. The ever changing technology enhancements are also making the need to travel less necessary than in previous years.

What are the Government doing?

Specifically to tackle the effects of climate change, the government has introduced a Climate Change Bill. The Bill has stated that UK domestic CO₂ emissions should be cut by 2020 by 26-32% and by at least 60% by 2050.

This goal was in addition to two existing targets which were the Kyoto Protocol target to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5% below base year levels over the period 2008-12, and the national goal to reduce carbon emissions by 20% below 1990 levels by 2020. So far, the UK is only on track to achieve 14% below 1990 levels by 2010 rather than 20%.

The Future of Transport White Paper (2004) identifies the need to ensure flexible travel options and mobility, but realises this needs to be achieved in a sustainable way, minimising transports impact on people and the environment.

Reducing the carbon content of fuel

In order to reduce carbon emissions that are cost effective but at the same time do not restrict people’s freedom to travel, the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation has been created. Under the obligation, 5% of transport fuel by 2010, sold in the UK, will have to come from renewable sources.

Improving fuel efficiency

Reforms to the Vehicle Excise Duty mean that cars with low carbon emissions have cheaper VED rates. For the very lowest carbon emissions vehicles,

The Department for Transport is a government body which provides large amounts of money for public transport to give people a choice of travel options for when they travel. The DfT supports sustainable transport measures such as Smarter Choices which is a range of initiatives to help people to choose sustainable travel options, these include workplace, school and residential travel plans.

The government’s funds have contributed to many smarter choices initiatives such as;
Funding £10 million over 5 years for 3 sustainable travel demonstration towns. This is to encourage smarter choices by sharing the sustainable travel demonstration towns success with other towns that want to develop similar initiatives.
£50 towards travel to school initiatives between 2004-2006.
Tax incentives to support travel plan measures.
Those developments which are likely to have significant transport implications are now required to submit travel plans, due to improved planning policy guidance.

Sustainability and Transport

People in the UK are driving their cars further, 9 in 10 motorised journeys are made by car in the UK, whereas in Europe, the average is 8 in 10 (www.cfit.gov.uk). This statistic suggests that people are making unnecessary trips using their cars which could be made by other forms of public transport or by walking and cycling.

Table 1 illustrates the predominance of car drivers in more recent years. In 1952 42% of passengers travelled by bus and coach, whereas in 1996 87% travelled by car, van and taxi and only 6 % travelled by bus and coach. If nothing is done to alleviate the increasing congestion found on UK roads the DfT predicts traffic could grow by 25% between 2000 and 2010.

1952		1996
Bus and coach	42%	Car, van, taxi	87%
Car, van, taxi	27%	Bus and coach	6%
Rail	18%	Rail	5%
Pedal cycle	11%	Pedal cycle	1%

Table 1: Passenger travel by mode, 1952 and 1996 (Oct 2007, DfT)

Smarter Choices

Smarter Choices, also known as ‘soft’ measures, are used to influence people‘s travel behaviour to encourage travel by more sustainable modes. Smarter Choices include workplace, school and individualised travel planning as well as the promotion of public transport, and marketing services such as travel awareness campaigns.

A Smarter Choices program developed by the DfT has shown that car traffic could be cut significantly using ‘soft’ measures. Urban peak traffic could be cut by 21% and by 13% in off-peak traffic. Nationally, 13% of traffic could be cut. Workplace Travel Plans, such as that being developed at Langage have the potential to reduce car use between 10 and 25%. Workplace travel plans can achieve this reduction in traffic through a variety of initiatives.

In order to achieve its greatest effect, Smarter Choices need to be combined with ‘hard’ options such as congestion charging or allocation of road space to sustainable travel, e.g. bus lanes, otherwise the road space freed up by the soft measures will just attract more car use by other people.