Transport and COP26 - One year on transport remains a huge challenge for COP27
Written by Matt McDonald, Policy Team Chair
Transport and climate change
Road transport accounts for 17% of global emissions, with aviation emissions covering a further 2.4%. While it’s true across all sectors, transport is an area where the injustice of climate change is extreme - in Scotland, 29% of households don’t have access to a car and globally only around 10% of people have ever been on a plane. While a small percentage of these might relate to choice, it’s overwhelmingly true that those who produce the most transport emissions through flying and car use are the wealthiest in society. Yet the impact of those emissions is predominantly felt by the poorest in society and by communities across the Global South.
What happened at COP26?
The most significant transport announcement at COP26 was a declaration on the ‘transition to zero-emission cars and vans’. The declaration’s signatories included the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Ford Motor Company, Mercedes-Benz, and more, but crucially did not include China, the USA, or Germany and other big car manufacturers such as Toyota or Volkswagen. A separate group of countries agreed to “work intensely towards accelerated proliferation” of zero-emission vehicles, including Kenya and India. Added at the last minute following an EU intervention, the declaration did include something on active and public transport - ‘recognising’ that a sustainable future requires “support for active travel, public and shared transport.”
As with all of the outcomes for these negotiations, what’s missing is sometimes as important as what’s included. With limited attention given to active or public transport solutions, there was also little progress on aviation, with the focus on less polluting fuels and offsetting; not what some campaigners were looking for when they called for a focus on reducing flying and limiting airport expansion.
What does this mean for Scotland?
Transport remains a problem sector for Scotland. It is the largest source of emissions in Scotland accounting for 36% and the only significant reduction we’ve seen in the last 30 years was as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic - not a sustainable solution. Scotland already had a goal to phase out new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, so it’s not likely the main transport declaration at COP26 will affect Scotland’s plans.
The policy subgroup here at 2050 Climate Group have worked a lot on gathering young people’s views on the sustainable transport challenge Scotland faces in the last few years. In our response to the Scottish Government’s National Transport Strategy, we shared young people’s views that spending should prioritise public transport, including electrifying all of our public transport. And in our response to the Strategic Transport Projects Review 2, we called for the creation of an effective walking and cycling network within Scotland’s urban areas. So while the policy in Scotland on phasing out fossil fuel cars goes beyond the declaration made at COP26, young people have told us there is a lot of work to do in creating a sustainable transport system in Scotland that doesn’t rely on private car use.
What’s happening at COP27?
When COP27 begins in just a few days’ time, transport will be high up the agenda. ‘Solutions Day’ on 17th November will include a focus on sustainable transport and urban mobility, with particular attention given to developing countries. To add to that, Egypt’s Deputy Director of the Department of Climate, Environment and Sustainable Development, Ayman Tharwat Amin, said “We hope to see stakeholders come together and demonstrate genuine commitment to active mobility and electrification of buses across the world, and particularly for the Global South.”
Good rhetoric is no guarantee of meaningful action on transport, but if sustainable transport is given the attention it needs at COP27, there is hope that this is a turning point on some of the big transport challenges.