Transport decarbonisation: Tackling climate change in the UK

July 18, 2024

Concept depicting new possibilities for the development of electric and hybrid cars and the issue of ecological travel in the form of a car-shaped pond located in a lush forest. 3d rendering. — image: ©Petmal | iStock

Zemo Partnership Executive Director Claire Haigh explores how the Council for Net Zero Transport is tackling climate change in the UK through transport decarbonisation

Humanity faces no greater challenge in the 21st century than ensuring the maintenance of a habitable planet. Climate change is one of the clearest threats to our shared environment.

As the first country in the world to make a legally binding national commitment to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the UK has a clear responsibility to show other countries how it will achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Transport contributes around a quarter of the UK’s GHG emissions. As one of the most challenging and complex sectors to decarbonise, it has been a key focus for efforts to meet UK emissions reduction targets.

Zemo Partnership (formerly Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership) is a uniquely broad stakeholder partnership focused on road transport decarbonisation. A not-forprofit organisation, it has been working for over two decades to provide unbiased guidance to government and industry around the policy and initiatives needed to accelerate road transport decarbonisation.

UK transport’s decarbonisation transition

Zemo recently announced the establishment of a Council for Net Zero Transport, comprising very senior representatives of key stakeholders. The Council aims to help steer UK transport’s decarbonisation transition as it moves into the crucial delivery phase.

The Council is chaired by Lord Deben, formerly UK Environment Secretary and Chair of the Climate Change Committee, the body responsible for holding the UK Government’s ‘feet to the fire’ and ensuring the country is on track to meet the legal targets. The Council is engaging prominent figures from government, industry, environment and academic sectors to help focus the collaborative work of the Partnership and forge a clear, strategic direction for road transport decarbonisation.

As Lord Deben said at the launch of the Council for Net Zero Transport: “If we’re going to solve this problem we have to effectively decarbonise transport. We must do this for our environment, and we will reap rewards both politically and economically from doing so.” (1)

We know, however, that the policy prescriptions we’ll need to decarbonise transport are complex, nuanced and cross-sectoral. This is too vital a task for us to be distracted by over-simplifications and the short-term vagaries of our political system (of which the UK has experienced several in recent years!).

It’s important – and helpful – that the UK has binding, world-leading targets, but what we need to develop are a series of the clearest possible roadmaps to show how we can meet these targets in the most efficient and effective way, while we also make sure that there are benefits for UK businesses and broader society – and that the necessary transition is also as fair as possible.

A laser-like focus towards transport decarbonisation

We’ve made a great deal of technical and other progress in the last two decades, particularly in some areas, such as passenger cars. Increasingly, we know the technologies and behaviours that we’re going to need to adopt. So, what we need right now is a laser-like focus on making sure these are adopted as quickly and efficiently as possible.

To achieve this, we’ll need the full participation of government (nationally and locally – to the level of each town and parish council), industry, consumers, and operators. Zemo Partnership is – and will be – acting to bring all these organisations together to cohere around agreed-upon objectives and the optimal pathways to realising them.

Several areas remain uncertain. We know that electrification can work for lighter vehicles, but it has yet to be fully proven for some heavier and long-distance applications. In the near term, we need to use other tools – such as biofuels based on waste oils and sustainability-verified feedstocks – that can significantly cut emissions while we develop future, zero-carbon solutions.

With a new UK Government in place, there is an opportunity to pursue this vital agenda with renewed vigour. The Partnership, through its convening powers, accumulated knowledge, and long experience, aims to be one of the keys to helping unlock a successful zeroemission transport future for the UK.