Rise in SUVs and car usage hinders net zero targets, spending watchdog says
An aversion to public transport, made worse due to the pandemic means the UK will have even further to go to reach its net zero emission targets, data from the National Audit Office (NAO) today has shown.
The NAO report revealed transport is the UK’s largest contributor to carbon emissions, with cars being the primary culprit.
Emissions increased six per cent from 2016 to 2019 which matched a rise in SUVs, road traffic and car travel.
By banning the sale of new cars powered by petrol or diesel alone by 2030 in November last year, the government aimed to cut emissions to zero by 2050.
But since 2011, carbon emissions from passenger vehicles have only reduced by one per cent, failing to meet the Department for Transport’s expectations.
In September last year, only 1.1 per cent of UK cars were classified as ultra-low emission, including 0.5 per cent which were electric.
However, by the end of September, sales of new ultra-low emission cars accounted for eight per cent of the market, exceeding projections.
Despite this growth, major changes to infrastructure are necessary to meet the government’s target of ultra-low emission cars comprising 100 per cent of the market from 2035.
Head of the NAO Gareth Davies said: “The number of ultra-low emission cars on UK roads has increased but meeting the government’s ambitious targets to phase out new petrol and diesel cars in less than a decade still requires a major transition for consumers, car makers and those responsible for charging infrastructure.”
Infrastructure
The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) provided £1.1b in grants by March last year to encourage consumers to buy ultra-low emission cars, and subsidies to finance the installation of charge-points for electric cars.
The government had funded 142,604 new charge-points by March last year, most of which are on private driveways.
OZEV has supported over 133,000 chargers for those with off-street parking, spending around £97.2m in the process.
By October last year, there were 19,487 publicly accessible charge-points in the UK, a massive improvement of fewer than 1,000 in 2011.
The government aims to install at least six charge-points at each service area across Britain’s main road network by 2023.
“Government now has the opportunity to reflect on what has gone well and better target its interventions and spending to secure this fundamental change and deliver the carbon reduction required,” Davies added.