The Scottish Government has been urged to introduce a number of ‘smarter choice’ measures in order to stand a chance of meeting its ambitious climate change targets.
A study – carried out by Atkins and Aberdeen University – concluded that Scotland was unlikely to achieve its target of a 42% reduction in CO2 by 2022, because of emissions from the transport sector.
The report said that smarter choices had the ‘greatest’ potential to reduce transport emissions and, in particular, travel-planning measures, such as increased workplace and public parking charges.
The nine-month study also suggested the introduction of lower speed limits on trunk roads and an increased investment in infrastructure to boost sustainable transport.
John Lauder, Sustrans’ national director for Scotland, said the report was further evidence that smarter choices were the ‘most cost-effective transport measure’ to reduce emissions. ‘Now is the time for the Scottish Government to increase the proportion of funding for active travel from the current 1% of the entire transport budget for Scotland and put the findings of this report into action,’ he told Surveyor.
In the long run, the report highlighted plug-in hybrids and electric cars as ‘major options’ to decarbonise transport but stressed that the roll out of supporting infrastructure was required to make this feasible.
It also suggested an ‘ambitious’ long-term strategy for national road-user charging could reduce CO2 emissions by more than one-tenth. A spokesman for the Scottish Government said it was committed to taking the ‘appropriate action’ needed to ensure it reached targets.
Holyrood will use the outcome of the study as evidence when considering what action to take in its climate change delivery plan. This will be outlined in a report next summer.
• Mitigating transport’s climate change impact in Scotland: Assessment of policy options
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