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A A new report published today (Tuesday 28 November) from the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Sustainable Transport calls for the Government to take urgent action to decarbonise Scotland’s public transport network. The report finds that a country-wide transition to zero-carbon buses, trains and ferries would allow Scotland to become both self-sufficient and a net exporter of alternative fuels and associated skills and expertise.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Public transport is vital. It provides people across the country with access to their workplaces, to shops and leisure activities, and underpins Scotland’s tourism sector. Its ability to cut congestion is critical to Scotland’s economy. And it is crucial for cleaner air and cutting emissions.
But transport is Scotland’s single most polluting sector, with emissions from transport responsible for over a third of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions. In light of the climate emergency, the Scottish Government has committed to cut these emissions by over 50% in the next seven years (by 2030) before reaching net zero by 2045.
To make big cuts in transport emissions, action will be needed both to reduce transport demand and to deliver modal shift to sustainable transport. But it will also be necessary to take action to decarbonise all remaining transport.
As the legally-binding target to be a ‘net zero nation’ by 2045 draws closer, the Cross Party Group (CPG) on Sustainable Transport has held an inquiry into the decarbonisation of public transport, in order to assess the challenges, opportunities and action required for delivering decarbonised bus, rail and ferry services across Scotland.
This report summarises the evidence presented to the inquiry before providing a set of recommendations to the Scottish Government for delivering a fossil-free future for public transport.
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