PRESS RELEASE – for immediate
release, 15th February 2005
Transport is ‘the unspeakable element’ in
post-Kyoto climate action
The Kyoto Protocol comes into
force on Wednesday 16th February. Road Block, an alliance against road
building in the UK, welcomes the Protocol as a landmark step for
addressing climate change. However, Road Block is concerned that
transport policy is the ‘unspeakable element’ for climate change action
in developed countries. Transport is on track to undermine UK
cuts in greenhouse gases, leaving the Protocol as a lost opportunity.
Road transport makes up around a fifth of the UK’s carbon dioxide
emissions [1] and, as the only sector where emissions are expected to
be higher in 2020 than in 1990 [2], is the fastest-growing source of
the greenhouse gas.
The next ten years is a crucial time for action on climate
change. However, even if fully implemented, the Government’s
10-year transport plan, the ‘Future of Transport’ will, at best,
stabilise emissions from transport [3] and, at worst, will need what
the House of Commons Environment Audit Committee has termed “a more
imaginative and radical strategy” [4].
The problem of rising transport emissions is not specific to the UK:
the European Environment Agency has predicted that carbon dioxide
emissions from vehicles in Europe are
set to rise by 30 per cent by 2010. At a recent climate change
conference in Exeter, Secretary of State Margaret Beckett acknowledged
that transport was a problem for all developed countries.
Melanie Jarman from Road Block said:
“Transport is the unspeakable element for the UK’s climate change
plans. It is the area most likely to undermine all the good work
done in the name of the Kyoto Protocol yet is the area that just isn’t
being tackled. In this year of the G8 Presidency, the UK has a
unique opportunity to take a lead amongst developed countries and admit
that building more roads and runways leads to climate chaos. The
launch of the Kyoto Protocol means the time is ripe for a new approach
to transport – starting with no new roads.”
Technical attempts to reduce emissions are not working: the Government
has failed in a commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cars
[5]; and recent improvements in efficiency have been offset by a range
of factors including lower motoring costs, increased size and weight of
vehicles [6].
Contact Road Block on 01803 847649 or
07854 693067 or office@roadblock.org.uk
