Defining a roadmap to net zero transport for the new government

Claire Haigh, Executive Director of the Zemo Partnership, highlights the challenges the next government will have to face to deliver net zero, including the potential re-establishment of the 2030 ICE vehicle ban.

I write as we enter the second half of the General Election campaign with the polls still clearly pointing to the arrival of a Labour Government in Westminster in July.

The new administration will take power with an awe inspiring list of challenges, but high on that list will be the delivery of net zero through a focused industrial strategy which will aim to maximise the benefits the essential green transition presents for UK Plc.

Transport will be a vital part of this jigsaw and the UK car industry’s ability to grow and thrive will be a key element of the UK’s economic prospects and an important generator of growth in tax revenues to support the kind of public services we all want and need.

Labour’s manifesto commits the party to reversing the delay announced by the Conservatives for the end date for sale of conventional ICE vehicles; under Labour, this will again be 2030, rather than 2035.

A great deal will need to happen if this target is to be met and many hitherto unfamiliar partners and contributors will need to pull together in a, perhaps, unprecedented industrial, consumer and civil society collaboration.

Zemo aims to be a step ahead in this challenge, providing the new Government with some key structures already in place to support delivery of the policies and initiatives needed to meet the targets while minimising the costs and maximising the benefits arising from the transition.

Earlier in June, we announced the formation of the Council for Net Zero Transport, chaired by Lord Deben with a very senior membership, drawn from a wide range of stakeholder organisations and trade bodies. The Council will help provide the strategic focus, underpinned by Zemo’s 20+ years as an unbiased, not-for-profit convenor of partnerships to support accelerated transport decarbonisation.

As Lord Deben said at the recent launch:  “This new Council brings together very experienced people in key positions and with the widest range of perspectives to help us forge an evidence-based, multi-stakeholder consensus on how we can maximise the benefits from this essential – and inevitable – transition.”

Zemo’s member organisations, convened through our series of expert working groups, will be critical in providing the knowledge, experience and evidence-base to define the roadmaps that will support the new Government’s policy approach.

Joining Zemo enables members to have a voice in this next, critical delivery phase of transport decarbonisation. 

As we’re on the cusp of a generational change in Government and a new approach to policy, there’s never been a more important time to get involved.

Do join us!