The transport sector now accounts for 24 per cent of the UK’s total emissions. The plan is to create a more modern transport system – one that is clean, affordable and easy to use. That means reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and improving air quality – clean air is one of the most basic requirements of a healthy environment for people to live, work and bring up families.
To meet the 2050 target, almost every car and van will need to be zero emission by 2050. The Government has announced an end to the sale of all new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040.
Progress has been made in accelerating the shift to Low Carbon Transport. Transport emissions in 2015 were down two per cent compared to 1990. While new cars in the UK are up to 16 per cent more efficient than they were in 2000, this improvement has been largely offset by a nine per cent increase in road traffic to 2015, with the number of registered vehicles increasing over the same period from 28.9 million to 36.5 million. The transformation to Electric Vehicles is not optional in the UK.