Council for Net Zero Transport established to steer UK transport’s decarbonisation

Zemo Partnership have used the publication of their new report: Delivering Net Zero in a Changing World to announce the formation of a new Council for Net Zero Transport,  to help shape decarbonisation in UK transport.

Zemo Partnership is a public-private partnership working to accelerate a sustainable shift to low carbon fuels and zero emission vehicles, it was formerly known as the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership.

The Council is made up of leading stakeholders from the industry, with Lord Deben, former UK Environment Secretary and Chair of the Climate Change Committee its first chair. The group aims to engage with senior figures from government, climate, and academic sectors in order to form a coherent and strategic plan for the decarbonisation of road transport.

Lord Deben said: ‘Our generation faces no greater challenge than that of tackling climate change.

‘With transport responsible for over a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, if we’re going to solve this problem we have to effectively decarbonise transport. We must do this for our environment, and we will reap rewards both politically and economically from doing so.”

Zemo’s new Executive Director, Claire Haigh, said: ‘Decarbonising transport is a vital – and particularly challenging – element of the UK’s legally binding net zero targets.

‘The policy prescriptions needed to do this are complex, nuanced and cross-sectoral, and achieving a successful outcome will be of huge benefit to the UK’s environment, society and economy. This is too vital a task for us to be distracted by over-simplifications and the short-term vagaries of our political system.

‘We have some world-leading targets but we’re at a key moment in the transition and what we need now is a laser-like focus on delivery. To achieve this, we’ll need the full participation of government (nationally and locally – to the level of each town and parish council) industry, consumers and operators.’

Zemo Partnership have also announced a new project on behalf of the Welsh Government: The Welsh Commercial Vehicle Decarbonisation programme. This will deliver a bespoke strategy for Wales covering heavy and light-duty commercial vehicles, with focus on sustainable fuels, electrification and the potential role for hydrogen. 

Lee Waters, Deputy Minister for Climate Change in the Government for Wales said: ‘We’re excited by the potential of this project to stimulate and accelerate the decarbonisation of commercial vehicles in Wales which we view as a key challenge on our path to net zero.’