in the climate change room

On the eve of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) Sustrans, the UK's leading sustainable transport
charity, sets out its recommendations for low carbon travel. But, says
the charity, the techno fixes so beloved of government, and the IPCC
itself, are not the whole solution. What is also needed, and urgently,
is a shift in behaviour change, and real commitment from the new
Assembly government, to meet the IPCC's recommendations and deliver the
level of reduction in CO2 emissions needed to avoid rising climatic
temperatures.

Fossil-fuel generated CO2 emissions from transport are steadily growing
and this sector is now contributing more CO2 than any other in the
UK(1). Sustrans believes that the UK government should commit to keeping
CO2 emissions within 450 parts per million, since this offers the best
chance of keeping the average increase in temperatures worldwide within
2 degrees Celsius. Transforming the travel culture is critical to
achieving this, but transport policy continues to focus on enabling
people to travel further faster, with tackling congestion rather than
carbon emissions a key priority.

Sustrans' own work shows that bringing about travel behaviour change can
be quick and, if properly conducted, uncontroversial and economical,
particularly for short journeys normally made by car. And, where people
are choosing to walk or cycle, there are accompanying health benefits
with a reduced burden on the NHS.

Sustrans' behaviour change work graphically illustrates the potential
for change, its research on typical towns showing that around half of
all car trips could be replaced by walking, cycling and public transport
with no changes made to existing services and conditions. And there is a
public demand, around 90 per cent of people favour measures to improve
conditions for walking, cycling and public transport even when this
disadvantages car users(2).

Sustrans calls on governments to do much more to fund travel behaviour
change programmes that, the evidence shows, reduce car use by at least
10 per cent(3) In addition government has a real role to play in
introducing stronger fiscal measures such as increasing taxes which is
known to be effective in dampening demand, for example, increasing
Vehicle Excise Duty on less efficient vehicles. Another solution is road
user charging focused on reducing car use rather than congestion. The
revenue generated should be ploughed back into sustainable transport
alternatives.

The IPCC report will focus on technological solutions to transport, such
as increased use of hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels. But serious doubts
exist about the ability of the biofuel industry to meet the demands of a
growing transport sector. Based on current predictions the biofuel
industry's hunger for land and water resources would quickly outstrip
supply, one study predicts the demand in the EU alone would need one
quarter of the EU's arable land to be turned over to biofuel production.

While the car industry has started to address the issue of fuel
efficiency current voluntary agreements with car manufacturers are
running behind schedule with cars becoming less, not more, fuel
efficient. Nearly a century ago Ford's model T achieved 25 miles to the
gallon, today many Ford cars and trucks achieve much less than this. In
short Sustrans believes there is no technology available today that will
enable the transport sector to make sufficient cuts in emissions to
achieve the UK's own target of a 60% reduction by 2050, and that there
needs to be much greater focus on bringing about quick behaviour change.

Sustrans' recommendations are published in its Low Carbon Travel
information sheet. The sheet is introduced by Professor Sir John Lawton,
Chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, who
highlights the urgency for action: "The evidence is now stronger than
ever that technological improvements alone will not be enough to deliver
the scale of emissions reductions we need to see from the transport
sector. Behaviour change is vital, that means all of us traveling less
far, in more energy efficient ways and at slower speeds. Transport and
planning must be better integrated so that people can travel shorter
distances to work, shops and schools and resources should be switched
from road building to creating conditions that will encourage people to
walk, cycle and use public transport much more.
"Doing nothing is no longer an option, in 1994 the Royal Commission
called for environmentally sustainable transport - if my successors are
making similar calls in another 13 years time then it will be too late".

Lee Waters, Sustrans' National Director for Wales, said: "This latest
IPCC report is crucial because it suggests ways of mitigating climate
change by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. It will inform the next
stage of the Kyoto protocol process, so if it focuses only on magic
bullets that have yet to be proven effective rather than on bringing
about behaviour change which we already know works, and works quickly,
it will be a wasted opportunity. In Wales it is time to have a proper
debate about the issues rather than pretend we can have unfettered
growth in mobility. The evidence suggests that when people are well
informed about the impact of their travel choices, they are very willing
to change their behaviour to more sustainable ways of getting around.
We urge the new Assembly government to show it is serious about climate
change and tackle the issue head on. We can no longer afford to avoid
this reality."