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…
Read moreKeywords: Economic
Begin with the end in mind
There is a lot riding on COP26. The last decade was the hottest on record. Global greenhouse gas emissions need to fall by 7.6% every year to 2030, but there is no sign even of emissions peaking in the next few years. As host nation UK is under heightened pressure to demonstrate credible and consistent…
Read moreDecarbonising Transport
Pressure to deliver a credible plan for net zero will weigh heavily on whoever is in Number 10 on the 13th December. Heightened levels of public concern about climate change will be in even sharper focus next year when the UK hosts COP26. Let’s start by acknowledging the scale of the challenge. If we are…
Read moreBuses – now here’s the good news
To the extent that there is any media coverage of buses, it tends to be bad news. The stories are about cuts in services leaving people isolated, declining use and fares increases. I’ve helped contribute to this over time – when at the Campaign for Better Transport I helped set up a “Save our Buses”…
Read moreWhy Government must honour its pledge to increase fuel duty in line with inflation
Increasing costs for road users is politically difficult. This is one of the reasons why we have had seven years and eight consecutive budgets where fuel duty has been frozen at a time of historically low oil prices and austerity. The result of seven years of fuel duty freezes is that the price of fuel…
Read moreA sustainable model for road use
Why should roads be free to use at the point of use? We don’t expect to use airports or railways without paying for them, but when we’re on the roads we forget the cost of building and maintaining them – until we hit a pothole and wonder why the council hasn’t done anything to fix…
Read moreLaunch of the Transport Knowledge Hub
Greener Journeys is pleased to be a sponsor of the Transport Knowledge Hub, which launches today at the LEP Annual Conference at the QEII in Westminster. Transport is central to unlocking growth, which is why transport infrastructure investment accounts for such a significant proportion of allocated Local Growth Fund. The key question is what is…
Read moreLEPs hold the keys to growth
Centralisation has for too long been choking off growth. There is a clear consensus across the political spectrum that power and decision making needs to be devolved, and that local people are best placed to drive local economic growth. Whilst there is broad agreement on the overall direction of travel, what is not yet clear…
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