"The transport elephant in the climate change room"

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SUSTRANS : The transport elephant in the climate change room

Tæknilausnir duga ekki einar til að leysa loftslagsmálum, segir Sustrans.
Hagrænir hvatar þurfa til, og fjármagnið sem þannig fæst ætti að nota í að  
styrkja heilbrigðar samgöngur.
IPCC, Vísindanefnd SÞ í Lofslagsmálum, leggja um þessar mundir lokahönd á  
skýrslu um aðgerðir,
en  hafa enn ekki séð ljósið.

Vil líka benda á áhugaverða skýrslu þar sem reiknað er á hversu mikið  
mætti spara í heilsukerfinu ef allir mundu hreyfa sér til samgangna 30  
mínútur á dag, eða jafn mikið og WHO mæli með sem lágmark. Peningin sem  
sparast í heilsukerfinu mætti nota í hreinni lausnir og mnnka útblástur  
enn frekar. Óraunhæft, í bíli já, en þetta gefur ákveðna mynd.

Exercise-based transportation reduces oil dependence, carbon emissions and  
obesity
http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=370343


http://www.ecf.com/2328_1
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1178201066515

03.05.2007The transport elephant in the climate change room

On the eve of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on  
Climate Change (IPCC) Sustrans, the UK's leading sustainable transport  
charity, sets out its recommendations for low carbon travel. But, says the  
charity, the techno fixes so beloved of government, and the IPCC itself,  
are not the whole solution. What is also needed, and urgently, is a shift  
in behaviour change, and real government commitment, to meet the IPCC's  
recommendations and deliver the level of reduction in CO2 emissions needed  
to avoid rising climatic temperatures.

Fossil-fuel generated CO2 emissions from transport are steadily growing  
and this sector is now contributing more CO2 than any other in the UK(1).  
Sustrans believes that the UK government should commit to keeping CO2  
emissions within 450 parts per million, since this offers the best chance  
of keeping the average increase in temperatures worldwide within 2 degrees  
C. Transforming the travel culture is critical to achieving this, but  
transport policy continues to focus on enabling people to travel further  
faster, with tackling congestion rather than carbon emissions a key  
priority.

Sustrans' own work shows that bringing about travel behaviour change can  
be quick and, if properly conducted, uncontroversial and economical,  
particularly for short journeys normally made by car. And, where people  
are choosing to walk or cycle, there are accompanying health benefits with  
a reduced burden on the NHS.

Sustrans' behaviour change work graphically illustrates the potential for  
change, its research on typical towns showing that around half of all car  
trips could be replaced by walking, cycling and public transport with no  
changes made to existing services and conditions. And there is a public  
demand, around 90 per cent of people favour measures to improve conditions  
for walking, cycling and public transport even when this disadvantages car  
users(2).

Sustrans calls on governments to do much more to fund travel behaviour  
change programmes that, the evidence shows, reduce car use by at least 10  
per cent(3). In addition government has a real role to play in introducing  
stronger fiscal measures such as increasing taxes which is known to be  
effective in dampening demand, for example, increasing Vehicle Excise Duty  
on less efficient vehicles. Another solution is road user charging focused  
on reducing car use rather than congestion. The revenue generated should  
be ploughed back into sustainable transport alternatives.

The IPCC report will focus on technological solutions to transport, such  
as increased use of hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels. But serious doubts  
exist about the ability of the biofuel industry to meet the demands of a  
growing transport sector. Based on current predictions the biofuel  
industry's hunger for land and water resources would quickly outstrip  
supply, one study predicts the demand in the EU alone would need one  
quarter of the EU's arable land to be turned over to biofuel production.

While the car industry has started to address the issue of fuel efficiency  
current voluntary agreements with car manufacturers are running behind  
schedule, with cars becoming less, not more, fuel efficient. Nearly a  
century ago Ford's model T achieved 25 miles to the gallon, today many  
Ford cars and trucks achieve much less than this. In short Sustrans  
believes there is no technology available today that will enable the  
transport sector to make sufficient cuts in emissions to achieve the UK's  
own target of a 60% reduction by 2050, and that there needs to be much  
greater focus on bringing about quick behaviour change.

Sustrans' recommendations are published in its Low Carbon Travel  
information sheet. The sheet is introduced by Professor Sir John Lawton,  
Chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, who  
highlights the urgency for action: "The evidence is now stronger than ever  
that technological improvements alone will not be enough to deliver the  
scale of emissions reductions we need to see from the transport sector.  
Behaviour change is vital, that means all of us traveling less far, in  
more energy efficient ways and at slower speeds. Transport and planning  
must be better integrated so that people can travel shorter distances to  
work, shops and schools and resources should be switched from road  
building to creating conditions that will encourage people to walk, cycle  
and use public transport much more.

"Doing nothing is no longer an option, in 1994 the Royal Commission called  
for environmentally sustainable transport - if my successors are making  
similar calls in another 13 years time then it will be too late".

Peter Lipman, Sustrans' Director of Low Carbon Travel: "This latest IPCC  
report is crucial because it suggests ways of mitigating climate change by  
reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. It will inform the next stage of  
the Kyoto protocol process, so if it focuses only on magic bullets that  
have yet to be proven effective rather than on bringing about behaviour  
change which we already know works, and works quickly, it will be a wasted  
opportunity. In the UK it is time to have a proper debate about the issues  
rather than pretend we can have unfettered growth in mobility. The  
evidence suggests that when people are well informed about the impact of  
their travel choices, they are very willing to change their behaviour to  
more sustainable ways of getting around. We can no longer afford to avoid  
this reality".

For more information on
This news :  http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1178201066515
Sustrans  :  http://www.sustrans.org.uk/

Hægt að koma böndum á losun gróðurhúsalofttegunda

Athugasemdir

[Pétur Þór Ragnarsson (IP-tala skráð) 6.5.2007 kl. 01:02]

Þetta hittir náttúrulega naglann beint á höfuðið. Það þýðir ekki að stinga hausnum lengur í sandinn og vona að þessi vandi verður leystur af einhverjum öðrum en okkur sjálfum ( hinum almenna borgara ( í það minnsta til að byrja með )). Með því að hjóla, ganga eða nýta almennings samgöngur mindast sjálfkrafa aukinn þrýstingur á stjórnvöld til að þessu að auka þjónustu við þessa samgöngu máta.

Gallinn við það er hinsvegar augljós. Hinn almenn borgari kemur ekki til með að nýta sér þjónustu sem er fyrir í lamasessi! Því liggur við að segja að upp sé komin pattstaða ( í það minnsta hér á Íslandi ). Það er ljóst að þetta stærsta vandamál nútímans ( að mínu mati ) verður ekki leyst á neinn auðveldan máta. Því verðum við sem nýtum okkur vistvæna ferðamáta einfaldlega að halda áfram að predika fyrir öðrum og vonast til þess að smita sem flesta á þeirri braut sem við fetum. Samfara breyttum lífsmáta er engu að síður nauðsynlegt að sjá verulega breytingu í nýtni einkabílsins. Metangas, Etanhól og litlir rafmagnsbílar mættu fara láta á sér kræla í meira mæli en raun ber vitni en því miður virðist sem þessi tækni sé kannski ekki fyllilega tilbúinn.

Þó vil ég leggja aðaláherslu á að það er klárt mál að þessari þróun í loftslagsmálum verður ekki snúið nema með verulegri hugarfarsbreytingu og því er mikilvægt að láta ekki sitt eftir liggja! Dustum rykið af hjólinu, göngum eða tökum strætó og látum ekki samviskuna naga okkur. Það er undir okkur komið hvernig komandi kynslóðir muna hafa það á móður jörð.