Zemo Partnership has convened a new Council for Net Zero Transport to help steer the decarbonisation of the UK transport sector
The new Council for Net Zero Transport, will be chaired by Lord Deben (John Gummer), formerly UK Environment Secretary and Chair of the Climate Change Committee, and will engage senior figures from government, industry, environment and academic sectors to help develop a clear, strategic direction for road transport decarbonisation. The terms of reference for the new Council, along with the individuals who are joining, will be announced in the next few weeks, explained Zemo chair Philip Sellwood.
The new Council was announced at the beginning of February at a Zemo Partnership event held in London, where the organisation also announced it is working on a Welsh Commercial Vehicle Decarbonisation programme funded by the Welsh Government. With £100,000 funding released to cover the financial year ending March 2024, and a further £200,000 available for the next financial year, the project will develop a decarbonisation road map for commercial vehicles, feeding into the broader decarbonisdation strategy for Wales.
“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,” said Lee Waters, Deputy Minister for Climate Change in the Government for Wales.
The event was a first public opportunity for new Zemo Executive Director, Claire Haigh to make a presentation inthe role: “Decarbonising transport is a vital – and particularly challenging – element of the UK’s legally binding Net Zero targets,” she said. “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.”
