Insights

The Chancellor is due to publish a stimulus package next month. The fight against COVID-19 is far from over, but the first phase and economic measures that anchored it are coming to an end. Short-term measures will need to be replaced with a long-term strategy to rebuild the shattered economy. The OECD predicts that even…

We have had a glimpse of a world with clean air, but it is fading fast. The lockdown emptied the roads, cleared the skies and precipitated a 60% drop in nitrogen dioxide levels. However, as economies restart, global emissions have already bounced back to just 5% below pre-pandemic daily levels. And now as Government urges…

Net Zero: How We Stop Causing Climate Change by Dieter Helm is a must read for anyone serious about tackling climate change. It blows apart the myths and self-delusions that block us from seeing clearly. With laser like precision it presents a clear diagnosis of the problem and sets out a prospectus for change that…

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the world, yet its potential as a clean, green, zero emission fuel is only beginning to be realised. Hydrogen buses, cars, trains, bin lorries, police cars and ambulances exist and are in use today. These vehicles emit only water as they move, and Hyundai claims their NEXO hydrogen…

When it comes to the defining challenges of the 21st Century the Covid-19 global pandemic is bound to be at the top of the list. The steps we’re taking to deal with it are having a considerable impact on every aspect of our daily lives, and the effects will continue to be felt for months…

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard how wonderful it is to hear birdsong again. It is indeed. But how many of us realise that songbird populations have been in serious decline for decades, due to our despoliation of their habitats? If society returns to business-as-usual after the Covid-19 crisis, including roaring, traffic-choked…

 Today we find ourselves in a new reality. It is hard to believe that our Decarbonising Transport event was just one month ago. Since then the world has changed beyond recognition. The battle against Covid-19 has the potential to devastate large swathes of the economy. Measures are in place to mitigate the direct impact…

David Bayliss, Stephen Glaister and Tony Travers. Once Coronavirus has passed we will be left with familiar transport policy problems including: finding more cash for local road maintenance, bus services and other local transport; funding ambitious national infrastructure plans; and the imperative to reform road fuel taxation as transport is decarbonised. It will be a…

Dieter Helm, Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford Transport is the main source of domestic carbon emissions. Either transport is decarbonised or we can give up on the net zero target. But how to do it? Most answers, including the ambitious recent Department for Transport’s Decarbonising Transport (March 2020) comprise a list…

The Transport Knowledge Hub ran a very successful workshop in London on 3rd March on the subject of decarbonising transport. Over 100 people attended and took part in a lively debate stimulated by hearing the evidence and the challenges from expert panel members. This seems a world away from where we are now. Working from…

What to make of such a high-profile and well-attended event focusing on decarbonising transport? For me there were four clear take-out messages. First, it is relatively easy to come up with lists of measures which look and sound worthwhile, but which on closer inspection do little more than nibble at the edges of what’s going…

I am feeling strong emotions and also conflicted as I write this short piece. This morning, 4 days before the Transport Knowledge Hub event ‘Decarbonising Transport’, I was sat in an office on Broadway in New York watching footage on my laptop of one of my heroes, climate crisis activist Greta Thunberg, addressing today up…