Dear Colleague,
TRANSPORT DAY AT COP26
Today is Transport Day at COP26, a unique opportunity to showcase UK innovation, leadership and expertise in zero emission technology. Our headline COP Presidency event focuses on accelerating the pace of the transition to zero emission vehicles. The launch of the Glasgow Declaration on Zero Emission Cars and Vans will see 24 countries, 6 major vehicle manufacturers, 39 cities, states and regions, 28 fleets and 13 investors jointly set out their determination for all new car and van sales to be zero emission by 2040 globally and 2035 in leading markets, following our own world-leading commitments. Over the past few months we have been working with the winners of our Chargepoint Design Competition, the Royal College of Art and PA Consulting, as well as consumers, local authorities, accessibility groups, and industry to create a design concept that makes charging an electric vehicle just as easy and inclusive as refuelling a petrol or diesel car.
The user-centric chargepoint concept, unveiled today, could become as iconic as the Great British post box or black cabs. Charging infrastructure will be with us for generations. Creating an iconic chargepoint design will raise awareness of our electric vehicle programme and help make switching a more attractive prospect to many. Alongside road transport, Transport Day will also galvanise maritime and aviation sectors to decarbonise through international political and industrial commitments and by speeding up the deployment of alternative fuels and zero emission technologies.
Signatories to the Clydebank Declaration launching today have signalled their intent to establish green shipping corridors – zero-emission shipping routes between ports. Operation Zero will convene a coalition of frontrunners in the offshore wind sector to work together to accelerate the decarbonisation of the operations and maintenance vessels working in the North Sea Basin's offshore wind farms. Today we will also launch the International Aviation Net Zero Coalition with a declaration that expresses states’ support for the International Civil Aviation Organisation to set a goal of net zero emissions by 2050 – in line with the reductions required from all sectors to meet the 1.5°C Paris temperature target. The UK is also going further on heavy goods vehicles. Following the consultation launched alongside our Transport Decarbonisation Plan in July, we have today committed to phasing out new, non-zero emission heavy goods vehicles weighing 26 tonnes and under by 2035, with all new HGVs sold in the UK to be zero emission by 2040. Finally, a range of events in the UK Pavilion will take a holistic approach to the challenge of decarbonisation, focussing on ensuring that no one is left behind in the transition by exploring means of avoiding displacement and ensuring widespread clean technology uptake, whilst emphasising the considerable benefits of public transport, walking and cycling.
