
We Must Cut Car Use To Save The Planet, Agrees U.K. Government – Forbes
The U.K. will this week commit to steeper cuts in carbon emissions, reports the Financial Times. Prime minister Boris Johnson is set to adopt the recommendations made by the government’s independent advisory group, the Climate Change Committee.
The recommendations require, among many other things, a reduction in miles traveled by car and more travel on transit and a massive increase in walking and cycling.
Ahead of the UN’s COP26 climate summit to be held later this year in Glasgow, the U.K. government has accepted the Climate Change Committee’s goal to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels.
The new U.K. target—up from a previous pledge of a 68% reduction—will be announced during a climate summit on Thursday, when President Joe Biden is due to outline a new national goal for U.S. carbon reduction.
“Car travel dominates surface transport emissions,” said a Climate Change Committee report published last year.
“There are opportunities to reduce demand for car travel, through both societal and technological changes and by enabling journeys to be shifted onto lower-carbon modes of transport,” continued the report.