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Reducing transport emissions: Models of change

Reducing transport emissions: Models of change. Harriet Williams, JMG Foundation Environmental Funders Network. “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it” Mark Twain . P hilanthropic response to climate change.

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Reducing transport emissions: Models of change

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  1. Reducing transport emissions: Models of change Harriet Williams, JMG Foundation Environmental Funders Network

  2. “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it” Mark Twain

  3. Philanthropic response to climate change • Where The Green Grants Went – analysis of UK funding • Covered 176 trusts in the 2004/05 financial year • Environmental grants totalled £33.6 million – just 1.6% of UK trust giving (in US ca. 5%) • Of this less than 10% directed towards climate change – much of the funding is for conservation • Climate change grants amounted to less than 0.2% of UK trust giving in total • Very few grants to EU level work

  4. Problems with road transport • Road transport 20% of EU carbon emissions, majority from passenger cars • Average person travels 36km per day – 27km of that by car • Noise, air pollution, accidents and land take • Car-dependent societies • Social justice dimension (including access to non-car alternatives, health impacts)

  5. Origins of road transport emissions • Three major components: • Energy efficiency of road vehicles • Total distance travelled by vehicle fleet • Carbon-intensity of transport fuel

  6. The blame game • Shifting of responsibility between government, business and consumers • Automakers call for ‘integrated approach’ to share burden of fuel economy regulation • Higher oil prices = end of ‘green dream’? • Unhelpful current paradigms: “Consumers don’t want clean cars”; “War on the motorist” • Decisive action by national and EU governments needed to clean up road transport. But where is the popular mandate for doing so?

  7. So what should we do? • Where can funders ‘add value’? • Need to rapidly expand range of actions that are politically feasible and attractive to government • E.g. boosting fuel economy, reducing car-dependency • Models of change: Where power lies, obstacles to change, ways of tackling vested interests • Build wider movement from below, comprising ‘non-environmental’ publics to raise political costs of inaction • Aim for change at system level not symptom level

  8. Pressure points: Fuel efficiency Government EU regs: 120g by 2012 Lobbying Climate change Fuel/vehicle tax Energy security Technnology Competitiveness/jobs Fleet procurement Fuel savings Consumer psychology Choice/personal freedom Business Consumers Advertising

  9. So what should we do? 1. EU regulation of car CO2 • Highly politicised – showdown between France and Germany • Build ‘broad church’ to counter industry lobbying 2. Car advertising • Good platform from which to question what consumers really want and need in a car 3. Incremental technology gains • Off-the-shelf rather than in the future = Focus on EU gov, industry lobbying and advertising

  10. Pressure points: Travel behaviour Government Public transport Road-building Teleconf./flexi-time Climate change Fuel/vehicle tax Traffic congestion Car clubs etc. Land-use planning Choice/personal freedom Parking availability Consumer psychology Health/quality of life Business Consumers Advertising

  11. Psychology of travel behaviour: A microcosm of climate can(‘t) do ‘If everyone made journeys of less than one kilometre on foot rather than by car we’d save millions of barrels of oil!’ • What is wrong with this statement: • Who is all this energy saving for? • Where is the benefit at individual level? • What if ‘everyone’ else doesn’t do it? • What if I want to drive to the shop?

  12. So what should we do? 1. Make it ‘sexy’ to take the bus • New discourses of choice/freedom: ‘I have a dream’ not ‘I have a nightmare’ 2. Reduce need to travel • Land-use planning – ever the Cinderella of reducing transport emissions = Focus on national/local gov, consumer psychology, alternatives to travel

  13. For more information Environmental NGOs • Transport & Environment • Friends of the Earth Europe • Greenpeace International • Centre for Transport and Energy (Czech Rep.) • BUND (Germany) Academic centres • Transport Mistra (Sweden) • Centre for Transport and Society (UWE) • Centre for Transport Policy (Aberdeen Business School)

  14. For more information • Funder initiatives on climate change • Climate Change Philanthropy Network (CCPAN) • Climate and Energy Funders Network (US) • Forests Philanthropy Action Network • Design to Win collaboration • European Climate Foundation

  15. Thank you for listening

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