Call to ban cars from our cities by 2030
Climate group backs radical steps
DIESEL and petrol cars face being banned from Scotland’s city centres under a radical blueprint to tackle the ‘climate emergency’.
A ‘12-point plan’ has been issued to Nicola Sturgeon ahead of the unveiling of her Government’s legislative plans for the coming year at Holyrood next week.
The report from the Climate Emergency Response Group (CERG) – which includes representatives of sustainable transport charity Sustrans, green energy lobbyists Scottish Renewables and environmental campaign group WWF Scotland – calls for action to make city centres ‘vehicle emission free’ by 2030.
The group wants plans for ‘low emission zones’ to be replaced by ‘no emission zones’, where only electric vehicles would be allowed.
The First Minister has promised to put tackling climate change ‘at the
‘Premature and needs to be shelved’
heart’ of her programme for government. But the proposals have been branded ‘premature’ and potentially damaging to businesses.
The CERG report states: ‘The Scottish Government have set clear expectations on local authorities that they must deliver low-emission zones on a rigid timetable and this is already driving implementation, whilst also giving local authorities the space to design the detail of their own individual schemes to reflect their own city’s circumstances.
‘The Transport Bill, currently going through parliament, provides the legislative basis for this.’ It says ministers should ‘place clear expectations on local authorities that they should develop their low-emission zones into zero-emission zones by 2030’.
Under current plans for lowemission zones – expected to be introduced in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee – around three-quarters of diesel vehicles and one in five petrol vehicles will be banned. Similar zones could then be extended to dozens of other towns.
The proposals are contained within the Transport (Scotland) Bill, which passed a stage one vote at Holyrood in April. Other recommendations of the CERG include zero-emissions public buildings which use only renewable energy, lower carbon meals in schools using more local produce and efforts to force homeowners to install energy efficient measures.
Tory policy co-ordinator Donald Cameron said: ‘There are already far too many question marks hanging over the implementation of low-emission zones to consider going any further. There may well be a place for them in some of our cities, but all of the possible consequences have to be considered.
‘Decisions have to be made in partnership with business and motoring groups. To rush into a ban on all vehicles in cities is clearly premature, and the idea needs to be shelved.’
Claire Mack of Scottish Renewables said: ‘We are already witnessing the effects of climate change, and now is the moment when we must accelerate our response if we are to avoid the worst effects and secure the many social and economic benefits of moving to a climate neutral economy.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Scottish Government is a world leader in tackling climate change and we are committed to ending Scotland’s contribution to this, definitively, within a generation.
‘As part of our response to the global climate emergency, we are putting climate change at the heart of our programme for government and will be announcing details of this shortly.’