A new Council for Net Zero Transport comprising of senior stakeholders will help steer UK transport’s decarbonisation transition as it moves into the crucial delivery phase.

The Council will be convened by the Zemo Partnership and chaired by Lord Deben, formerly UK Environment Secretary and Chair of the Climate Change Committee. It will engage senior figures from government, industry, environment and academic sectors to help forge a clear, strategic direction for road transport decarbonisation.   

Lord Deben said: “Our generation faces no greater challenge than that of tackling climate change.

“With transport responsible for over a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, if we’re going to solve this problem we have to effectively decarbonise transport. We must do this for our environment, and we will reap rewards both politically and economically from doing so.”

Zemo’s new Executive Director, Claire Haigh, said: “Decarbonising transport is a vital – and particularly challenging – element of the UK’s legally binding net zero targets.

“Achieving a successful outcome will be of huge benefit to the UK’s environment, society and economy. This is too vital a task for us to be distracted by over-simplifications and the short-term vagaries of our political system.”

Zemo Partnership (formerly Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership/LowCVP) is a not-for-profit organisation which has been working for over two decades to provide unbiased guidance to government and industry around the policy and initiatives needed to accelerate road transport decarbonisation. 

As a trailblazer project for the rest of the UK, Zemo Partnership has also announced new project on behalf of the Welsh Government.

The Welsh Commercial Vehicle Decarbonisation programme will deliver a bespoke strategy for Wales covering heavy and light-duty commercial vehicles, with focus on sustainable fuels, electrification and the potential role for hydrogen. Zemo will be working closely with the Government of Wales to develop the strategy and routes to delivery.

Commenting on the project, Lee Waters, Deputy Minister for Climate Change in the Government for Wales said: “We’re excited by the potential of this project to stimulate and accelerate the decarbonisation of commercial vehicles in Wales which we view as a key challenge on our path to net zero.”