The resources here are specifically designed for use by experts.
Briefings
Consultation Responses
Evidence to Select Committees
Reports
BriefingsFuel tax and climate change: why the Government should stand firm
(PDF† - 37K) March 2008
Fuel tax is due to go up by 2 pence per litre in April. Groups representing hauliers and motorists are calling on the Government to abandon the proposed rise, saying it will damage the haulage industry and the wider economy. This briefing explains why Friends of the Earth believes the Government should stand firm.
Driving Change - Why we need tough targets for low carbon cars
(PDF† - 237K) March 2008
Making new cars more fuel-efficient could make the biggest single contribution to cutting carbon dioxide emissions from transport in the UK. This briefing explains why tough targets for low carbon cars are essential, and why further action to reduce car use will also be needed.
Heathrow expansion - its true costs
(PDF† - 134K) February 2008
The Government argues in its Heathrow consultation that economic benefits are the main reason for expanding Heathrow airport.
The consultation presents this economic case as a given. However, this economic case is flimsy in the extreme. This briefing presents five main arguments why it should not be accepted.
Aviation and the EUETS
(PDF† - 80K) June 2007
The European Union want to include aviation in their Emissions Trading Scheme. This joint position paper details what needs to be included in the scheme and what else needs to happen to tackle aviation's impact on the climate.
Alexander the Great
(PDF† - 66K) November 2006
This briefing examines the need for urgent Government action on aviation and looks at the various solutions proposed to tackle climate change.
Pie in the Sky
(PDF† - 419K) September
2006
Summary
report (PDF† - 66K)
This briefing shows how the economic costs of aviation expansion outweigh the benefits claimed by Government and the industry.
Tackling
Climate Change through the Budget
(PDF† 105K)
October 2005
Pre-Budget Report briefing:
This briefing shows how the Chancellor can use taxation to address the
problem of growing carbon emissions from transport.
Tackling
climate change in the English regions
(PDF† - 171K) October
2005
Spatial planning has a huge effect on greenhouse gas emissions from
transport. For example, the use of land use patterns to reduce the need
to travel by car and restricting airport development can reduce our
climate impact.
Road
Pricing
(PDF† - 91K) August
2005
The Government have recently announced proposals for a national road-user
charging scheme to reduce congestion - but will it work? And what will
it do to tackle climate change?
Why
airport expansion is bad for regional economies
(PDF† - 105K) August 2005
Over £17 billion is being sucked out of the UK economy as the
amount of money spent abroad by UK residents is up to six times that
spent in the regions by overseas visitors. This briefing shows the damage
that airport expansion will do to regional economies.
Aviation
and the Economy
(PDF† - 73K) May
2005
Aviation is the fastest growing contributor to climate change. The industry
claims that the economic impacts of implementing the necessary measures
to address this growth outweigh the ecological benefits. This briefing
analyses these claims and shows the flaws in the aviation industry's
arguments.
Like
a bad penny
(PDF† - 92K) October
2004
New bypasses around Hastings have already been rejected by the
Government, but local councils in the area are unwilling to take no
for an answer, and have submitted yet another proposal.
M6
Expessway: another dead end road?
(PDF† - 97K) October
2004
Explains the Government's M6 Expressway toll proposal, and why the issue
is important across the UK, not just in the Midlands and North West.
Oil
prices, fuel tax and climate change
(PDF†) June 2004
Looks at the current and future problems associated with our dependence
on oil (including high oil prices and climate change) - and offers some
solutions and alternatives.
Consultation responsesFriends of the Earth submission to the Government's Aviation Duty Consultation
(PDF† - 216K) April 2008
Friends of the Earth welcomes the introduction of aviation duty as a potentially effective tool to control aviation’s climate change impacts. However it is important that the tax is set high enough and is subject to an annual escalator so that it controls aviation emissions and also in recognition of the large tax exemptions that the aviation industry benefits from.
Friends of the Earth submission to the Government's Heathrow Consultation
(PDF† - 466K) March 2008
Our response to the consultation focuses on challenging the assumptions on which the Government’s growth forecasts and economic case for expansion are based. It asks why a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the proposals hasn’t been made and examines the long term climate change implications of the Government’s assumptions and consequent expansion policy.
Reducing new car CO2 emissions
(PDF† - 55K) November 2006
A response to the Department for Transport highlighting the need for legally binding standards on carbon emissions from cars.
Friends
of the Earth submission to the Government's Aviation Consultation
(PDF† - 105K) June 2003
This summary explains why demand management measures are vital for a
sustainable aviation policy.
Evidence to Select Committees Reducing Carbon Emissions from Transport
(PDF† format - 91K) Aug 2006
Evidence submitted to the Environmental Audit Committee for their report investigating Government performance on tackling carbon emissions from transport.
Road Pricing:
Should all roads be toll roads?
(PDF format - 58K) Nov
2004
Evidence submitted to the House of Commons Transport Committee for their
report "Road Pricing: The Next Steps"
Reports Comprehensive Spending Review 2007
(PDF† 240K) July 2007
How the Government should spend money on transport to reduce carbon emissions.
Driving up Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Road Transport
(PDF† 905K) July 2006
A detailed critique of Government action to reduce transport's contribution to climate change.
Aviation
and Climate Change
(PDF† - 6.4MB) June 2005
Summary
report (PDF† - 3.2MB)
New research by the independent Tyndall Centre shows how aviation growth
could wreck UK and EU policies to tackle climate change.
Airport
Master Plans
(PDF† - 312K) October
2004 (Revised February 2005)
Highlights the risks and potential pitfalls for local authorities as
airport operators update their AMPs.
Paying
for Better Transport: Costing the 'Way to Go' Manifesto
(PDF† - 294K) May 2004
The Way to Go campaign was launched in February by a coalition of over
25 environment, transport and social justice organisations. These groups
want to see a transport system that is better for people, for local
neighbourhoods and for the environment. This report looks at the cost
of delivering the measures identified in the Way to Go manifesto based
on current best practice both from Britain and the rest of Europe. It
also identifies the benefits this would deliver; possible sources of
funding and which groups in society would benefit the most from implementing
these policies.
Summary
of the report
(PDF† 266K) May 2004
Better buses,
safer streets for Longsight
(PDF† - 1.4MB) Sept
2003.
Highlights the transport, traffic and safety concerns of the Longsight
community in Manchester. Summary in Bangla and Urdu.
Environmental
Justice - Mapping transport and social exclusion in Bradford
(PDF† - 630K) Oct
2001.
Summary report
(PDF† - 95K) Oct
2001.
Transport problems exacerbate social exclusion in a number of ways.
Air pollution, noise and accidents are concentrated in poorer areas.
A poor public transport system denies many people easy access to essential
service like hospitals, shops and schools - which is more of a problem
for poorer people, as they are less likely to have the alternative of
using a car. This report maps these transport-social exclusion links
in the District of Bradford, and suggests how they can be overcome.
Less Traffic,
More Jobs: The direct employment impacts of developing a sustainable
transport system in the UK
(PDF† - 194K) May
1997.
Policies to promote car alternatives could lead to the creation of 130,000
new jobs by 2010, which would more than offset the loss of jobs in the
motor industry as a result of decreasing car use.
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