NEWS RELEASE

Monday 8th May 2006

Scottish Executive challenged on record on climate change -
'Facing the Flood' conference to set out action needed to tackle emissions from transport

TRANSform Scotland, Scotland's campaign for sustainable transport, today set out the challenges the Scottish Executive faces if it is genuine about tackling climate change. The size of the challenge will be set out at a major conference on transport and climate change, 'Facing the Flood', being held today at The Hub in Edinburgh.

The conference follows six weeks after the Scottish Executive published its Climate Change Strategy and three weeks after it launched its draft National Transport Strategy. The two documents have set back Scotland's efforts at tackling climate emissions by raising the prospect of the ditching of the road traffic stabilisation target set only four years ago. This topic is now the subject of a Parliamentary 'Green Transport Bill' being brought forward by Mark Ballard MSP.

David Spaven, Chair of TRANSform Scotland, said:

"The Scottish Executive talks a good game on climate change but has fallen far short on the action needed to reduce transport's impact on the environment. Some people would like to hide their heads in the sand and hope that climate change will go away, but with transport the fastest-growing source of climate emissions, the Executive is going to have to get a grip - and fast.

"Transport is undoubtedly a thorny issue but this hasn't stopped the Executive from taking a series of controversial decisions that have worsened Scotland's record on climate change. From throwing subsidies at airline companies to bulldozing through new motorways, the Executive's performance has been poor. Our conference will set out the change in direction Scotland must now take if it is to improve upon its currently unsustainable course."

Dr Richard Dixon, Director of WWF Scotland, said:

"Not only do transport emissions form a major part of Scotland's total climate emissions but they continue to rise. Dropping the traffic reduction target is therefore shortsighted. Progress in reducing emissions from other sectors in Scotland will be undermined unless we get to grips with tackling those from transport too.

"The Government's transport proposals need to ensure that reducing emissions from the sector is a priority. It is time to end contradictions between Government policies on transport and those on climate change."

The conference will also see the first presentation of the results of the Stockholm congestion charge, with Stockholm city councillor Åsa Romson presenting the impacts of the scheme in reducing levels of congestion and emissions.

Åsa Romson of Stockholm City Council said:

"The congestion charge in Stockholm has reduced car traffic by 20% and has proven to be the greatest step in decades that Stockholm has made towards reducing congestion and pollution. All countries that are serious in looking for efficient ways to cut carbon emissions from the transport sector should consider congestion charges in cities. It's cost effective since the majority of the trips in cities can more easily change to public transport, bike or foot. Many countries now look upon Stockholm and I hope Scotland could follow."

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] TRANSform Scotland

TRANSform Scotland is the national sustainable transport campaign, bringing together rail, bus and shipping operators, local authorities, national environment and conservation groups, consultancies and local transport groups - interested in transport, the environment and a sustainable Scotland. We can be contacted at Lamb's House, Burgess Street, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 6RD. Tel 0131 467 7714; fax 0131 554 8656; email <info@transformscotland.org.uk>; web <http://www.transformscotland.org.uk>.

[2] The Scottish Executive's record on transport and climate change

The Scottish Executive's recent record on tackling climate emissions from the transport sector has been abysmal. It has:

* gone back on promises to reduce traffic levels - Road Traffic Stabilisation Target:

In its current National Transport Strategy consultation, the Executive has threatened to ditch its road traffic stabilisation target only four years after setting itself the target. The report of the Scottish Parliament's 2005 climate change inquiry concluded that not only should the Executive keep the target but that it should set out interim targets as milestones along the road to the 2021 target. The Executive's subsequent attempts to ditch the target gives the clear message that it has no intention of tackling climate change emissions from the road transport sector.

* failed to support local authority action - Edinburgh congestion charge and FETA road charges:

The Executive has claimed that it supports local authority action in implementing road user charging, yet the Scottish Ministers went into hiding when the City of Edinburgh Council brought forward its plans for referendum in early 2005, and earlier this year threw out the proposal of the Forth Estuary Transportation Authority (FETA) for road charges on the Forth Road Bridge. The Executive's failure to take a lead has killed off action on this front for the time being - despite the ongoing success of similar schemes in London and Stockholm.

* forced through urban motorway-building - Glasgow's urban M74:

The Executive pressed ahead with the urban motorway-building in Glasgow despite being comprehensively trounced in the independent Public Local Inquiry by JAM74 and Friends of the Earth Scotland. The inquiry concluded that the new motorway would be bad for the environment, bad for social justice and bad for the economy. Friends of the Earth have been forced to take the Executive to the Court of Session to get it to reverse the Executive's atrocious decision; the case will be heard in June/July this year.

* carved up the green belt for developers - Aberdeen western bypass:

The Executive has failed to consider alternatives to a project that will effectively destroy the western green belt of Scotland's third city, whilst doing little or nothing to improve conditions for commuting in/out of the city at peak hours. The transport minister's comprehensive mismanagement of the process has brought forward widespread threats of legal action from local residents.

* subsidised short-haul aviation - Air Route Development Fund:

The Executive has introduced subsidies to airlines for new air routes, despite air transport being the most climate-damaging mode of transport. There are outstanding questions regarding the legality of such subsidies. The subsidies do not even make any sense in narrow economic terms as the air transport industry operates as a net import to the Scottish economy, flying out more cash than it brings in.

[3] Conference details

The conference is being held at The Hub, Castlehill, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, 10.00am to 4.30pm (registration from 9.30am). Keynote speakers Richard Dixon (WWF), Frances Duffy (Transport Scotland) & Richard Boyd (Metroeconomica) will be speaking between 10.05am and 11.05am.

The conference will explore:

* The threat from climate change - and transport's role
* Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector
* Reducing emissions from road transport: Continental experiences
* Reducing emissions from aviation: can the railways substitute for short-haul aviation?

The speakers at the conference are:

* Cllr Åsa Romson, Stockholm City Council - on the success of the Stockholm congestion charge
* Frances Duffy, Director of Strategy & Investment, Transport Scotland
* Richard Boyd, Senior Environmental Economist, Metroeconomica
* Professor Abigail Bristow, Professor of Transport Studies, Loughborough University
* Dr. Richard Dixon, Director, WWF Scotland
* Dr. Jillian Anable, UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) & Robert Gordon University Centre for Transport Policy
* Aat Peterse, Policy Officer, European Federation for Transport and Environment, Brussels
* Arthur Leathley, Director of Communications, Virgin Trains & Allan McLean, Communications Manager Scotland and Northern England, Virgin Trains
* Professor Roger Kemp FREng, Head of Engineering Department, Lancaster University

The conference will be chaired by David Spaven, TRANSform Scotland and Rob Edwards, Environment Editor, Sunday Herald.

The conference is sponsored by GNER, The Sunday Herald, Virgin Trains, and WWF Scotland.

The full conference programme is available at http://www.transformscotland.org.uk/events

[4] Media access to the conference

Entry to the conference is available to accredited journalists. Please contact us for further details.
Interviews will be available with speakers on the day of the conference. Please contact us for further details.

END OF NEWS RELEASE