The independent Committee on Climate Change has advised the Government to ‘maintain support for the up-front costs of electric vehicles’, as it called for urgent action on global warming.
In its latest report the statutory advisory body, chaired by Lord Debden, included transport among its key areas for action as well as calling for more of a focus on flooding and infrastructure resilience.
‘Maintain support for the up-front costs of electric vehicles, while they remain more expensive than conventional alternatives and push for stretching 2030 EU CO2 targets for new cars and vans,’ the report states.
On infrastructure in general, the report advises the Government to ‘make decisions that help reduce emissions and improve the resilience of infrastructure networks and services during periods of extreme weather’.
In past summers, heatwaves have seen major motorways in England melt.
‘A range of infrastructure decisions to be made this Parliament could have significant impacts. Foremost amongst these is the need for carbon capture and storage (CCS). Others include requirements for infrastructure support for heat networks and electric vehicles. Decisions taken now need to avoid ‘lock-in’ to high carbon pathways and vulnerability to climate change risks,’ the report adds.
Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) director general, Nick Baveystock, said: ‘Fears around the resilience of our infrastructure networks in the face more frequent extreme weather, also echo our own concerns. There is a growing need for a more comprehensive approach to UK resilience, one that better reflects inter-dependencies - or the “domino effect” where the failure of one system such as a flood defence affects the operation of the other networks.
‘We would like to see Government put resilience at the heart of its plans, and the upcoming Budget presents an opportunity.’
