From Friends of the Earth, WWF-UK and Greenpeace.
As fuel tax protesters threaten a new wave of fuel protests across Britain, the UK's leading environmental groups are calling on the Government to do more to get people and freight off our roads and on to more climate-friendly alternatives such as trains.
The groups - Friends of the Earth, WWF-UK and Greenpeace - warned that the Government must not allow the cost of motoring to keep falling, if it genuinely wants to cut Britain's carbon dioxide emissions. The call comes at the end of a week when the world's leading politicians have been in Bali attempting to prepare the ground for a global deal to prevent dangerous climate change.
The science is now clear: the UK's carbon emissions need to fall by at least 80% by 2050 if we are to play our fair part in the fight against climate change. Unfortunately Britain's carbon dioxide emissions have risen since Labour came to power, and transport policy must take a large part of the blame.
* The cost of motoring has fallen in real terms by 10 per cent
since Labour came to power in 1997, while the cost of public transport has risen: bus fares by 13 per cent and rail fares by six per cent [1].
* Since 1997 traffic levels have gone up by more than 12.4% [2].
* Between 1997 and 2005 carbon dioxide emissions from road
transport rose by almost three per cent, and currently account for over a fifth of total UK emissions [3]. Emissions from road transport are forecast to rise by a further 18 per cent between 2005 and 2020, when they will represent over 26 per cent of total UK emissions.
Friends of the Earth's transport campaigner, Tony Bosworth said:
"The cost of motoring has fallen in real terms since Labour came to power, traffic levels and congestion have risen and its contribution to global warming has increased. If the Government is serious about tackling climate change it must not cave in to pressure to make road travel even cheaper. Instead it should force car manufacturers to make more fuel-efficient vehicles and invest in getting people and freight off our roads and onto cleaner alternatives instead."
Head of Transport Policy at WWF-UK, Peter Lockley, commented:
"Investment in public transport would ease congestion on UK roads, which in turn would cut fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions for hauliers.
Cutting fuel taxes will just encourage more people onto our already over-crowded roads, and reduce the money available for cleaner alternatives."
Greenpeace climate campaigner Anna Jones said:
"As the Bali conference comes to an end the timing of this pro-climate change demonstration is unfortunate. We need action to protect society against climate change and that means keeping fossil fuels in the ground, not moves to make petrol cheaper. At a time of climate crisis driving a car should be getting more expensive in comparison to public transport. Gordon Brown must stand firm and prove his green credentials."
Climate change is the biggest threat the planet faces. Scientists warn that unless we take urgent action species will become extinct, sea levels will rise and there will be an increase in extreme weather events. The UK says that it wants to play a leading role in tackling global warming. This must include tackling rising emissions from our transport sector.
The groups are calling for the Government to increase fuel duty alongside investment in sustainable transport alternatives (including better public transport, and measures to get freight off the roads and onto rail) and to abandon its motorway-widening plans.
1. The cost of motoring has fallen in real terms: [Parliamentary Question 17/7/07].
2. Traffic levels see Traffic in Great Britain: Quarter 3 2007
3. Defra
