Department for Transport has “gone rogue” on climate change

Transport is the largest single contributor to UK climate emissions, but a damning new report released today (24 May) suggests that the Department for Transport has “gone rogue” on climate change.

The report, commissioned by Friends of the Earth, shows that the Department for Transport has side-lined climate change in its strategies and plans, and is pursuing projects, like road building, which will make emissions worse. The report identifies a range of necessary institutional changes to bring the department back on track.

The Climate Change Act should ensure that government decisions and departments contribute to the UK reducing its carbon emissions. But DfT is undertaking schemes that will worsen carbon emissions, has failed to ensure Highways England and local authorities are taking appropriate action, and has inadequate plans to deal with the problem, all leading to the charge that it has gone rogue on climate change.

Report co-author Lisa Hopkinson, Transport for Quality of Life, said:

“Because the consequences of climate change are so serious, we need the Department for Transport to make it a top priority to reduce carbon emissions. Even if the take-up of electric cars is much faster than the government expects, the UK will emit more carbon from transport than is within safe limits. We urgently need DfT to face up to its responsibility on this, and to act accordingly.”

Mike Childs, head of science at Friends of the Earth, said:           

“The world has woken up to the urgency of the climate crisis and people are rightly demanding action, but it seems that the Department for Transport isn’t just stuck in the slow lane but has completely veered off course.

“Transport is the single largest climate emitter in the UK – and this government’s obsession with road-building and backing for airport expansion is making things worse.

“The effects of climate breakdown, from wildfires, floods, and rising sea levels are already harming people right here in the UK.

“Unless the Department for Transport acts quickly to get back on track, we can add failing on climate change to Grayling’s disastrous legacy in charge.”     

The report, produced by Transport for Quality of Life, outlines the changes which are needed to bring the department back on track. Including:

• DfT should be set a ‘carbon budget’ as well as a ‘financial budget’, and required to stay within it;
• DfT should draw up a plan to show how it will cut carbon emissions from transport to stay within its carbon budget; this should cover aviation and shipping as well as cars and lorries;
• Local councils should also be set transport carbon budgets, consistent with the DfT carbon budget;
• Highways England, the body responsible for major roads, should be ‘repurposed’ and told to cut traffic on its road network (instead of building more roads that generate more traffic and increase carbon emissions);
• No more money should be spent on building roads until DfT can show that its roads programme is consistent with the Climate Change Act;
• The method of assessing transport schemes is not fit-for-purpose to take account of carbon impacts and should be overhauled to ensure environmentally damaging road projects that increase carbon don’t get approved;
• Unaccountable Local Enterprise Partnerships should be stripped of their powers to decide how money for local transport schemes gets spent, and the money should be allocated to local councils, to spend in line with their transport carbon budgets.

ENDS

 For more information contact the Friends of the Earth press office on 020 7566 1649/07718 394786 (out of hours), or email [email protected].