The road to net zero transport

This week, our friends at BusinessGreen launched a new series of quarterly conferences exploring how net zero emissions can be achieved across transport, energy, infrastructure, supply chains and land use.

The first sector under the spotlight? Transport. As the largest source of emissions, transport faces a unique set of challenges stretching across road, rail, air and sea. Endeavouring to keep our finger firmly on the pulse of the low-carbon transition, this was one we couldn’t miss.

Here’s a round-up of the event and the sector’s leading pioneers we’d love to work with.

Making electric travel the new normal

According to The Climate Group, the transport sector is the fastest-growing contributor to climate change, accounting for 23% of all energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Electrification therefore offers a major opportunity to cut millions of tons of GHG emissions every year, while also curbing air and noise pollution.

James Beard from EV100 joined a panel asking: What does the Net Zero Transport route map look like? He underlined EV100’s role as a global initiative bringing together forward-looking companies committed to transitioning their fleets to zero emissions.

Turning the tide on shipping emissions

Shipping, which if classified as a country would be the world’s sixth-largest emitter of CO₂, is one of the most daunting challenges we face in the transition to net zero. 

Fitting then that the Sustainable Shipping Initiative– which boasts a membership of environmental leaders, shipping industry professionals and financial institutions – joined the Tackling hard to reach transport emissions panel. 

Far from being put off by the scale of the challenge, Executive Director, Andrew Stephens – who is becoming a regular on our blog – highlighted his organisation’s ambition to cut the sector’s CO₂ emissions by at least 50% by 2050.

Delivering cleaner logistics

With consumer habits changing rapidly and customers increasingly shopping online, door to door delivery has become the new normal. This change in behaviour has meant that small, inner city delivery vans are now the fastest growing vehicle type on our roads. 

Gnewt– which appropriately stands for Green New Transport – has grabbed this challenge by the horns, providing a new type of ‘final mile logistics’. It reduces miles travelled by pioneering the concept of ‘portering’, which involves delivering parcels by foot for the last mile or so. Plus, it’s gone fully electric and claimed the prestigious title of the UK’s largest 100% electric commercial vehicle fleet.

There were many more pioneering companies at the Towards Net Zero Transport event and you can catch up on all the news by following #BGbriefing. We’re looking forward to attending the next event in the Net Zero series in June which will focus on the energy sector.

Greenhouse is working with organisations in the sustainable transport sector to help them maximise their impact. If you’re a pioneer looking to amplify your message, get in touch with will.spragg@greenhousepr.co.uk.