Safeguarding our environment: transport's challenge

In our increasingly interconnected world, transport has a significant impact on our economies, our societies and, of course, our environment. Naturally, these will all be on the agenda at the International Transport Forum (ITF) in Leipzig this week, but I will be focusing on the environment and how we reconcile its protection with our continuing need to travel.

Transport has a central role to play in steering the UK through the downturn and the government has made it clear that the recession should not be an excuse to water down our environmental commitments.

In addition, if we fail to safeguard the future of our environment then we will never safeguard the future of transport.

I do not underestimate the scale of the task before us. But the simple truth is that if the world’s transport ministers do not lead this debate or set the agenda, then others will. Should that happen there will be two outcomes. First, transport will leave itself wide open to accusations that it is part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. And, second, transport will lose its influence, its voice and its place at the top table.

It would also be disastrous for our shared global environment. After all, the people who best understand how to deliver a cleaner, greener transport sector are the people who lead it and work in it.

That is why we are committed to cutting greenhouse gases by 80 per cent by 2050. We have also shown that it is possible to be pro-transport and pro-environment. For example, we have outlined a strategy to incentivise the production and purchase of ultra-low carbon vehicles; we have built High Speed 1 and established a company to develop proposals for a new north-south high speed rail link; and we have pushed hard to include aviation in the European Emissions Trading System.

I will also be making the case for international aviation and shipping to be included in any new climate change deal that is agreed at the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December. It is one of the great missed opportunities that their respective emissions were not tackled effectively by the Kyoto Protocol.

Transport ministers in every country need to recognise that this fundamentally crucial sector must also be at the heart of the global climate change effort. Let's face up to our responsibilities and make this our issue and our cause.