CURBING carbon dioxide emissions is one of the toughest problems facing
world governments, Cecil Parkinson, Britain鈥檚 transport secretary, told
a conference in London this week organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
His remarks represent the first public recognition of the contribution of
transport to the greenhouse effect by a British transport secretary.
In a lengthy departure from the text of his prepared speech, Parkinson
told the conference that 鈥榗racking the CO2鈥� problem is one of
the biggest challenges facing society. 鈥業 don鈥檛 accept action shouldn鈥檛
be taken because the science isn鈥檛 certain,鈥� he said. 鈥業 don鈥檛 think we
can wait for these arguments to be resolved.鈥�
Although Britain emits only 3 per cent of the world鈥檚 greenhouse gases
and transport is only responsible for 10 per cent of this, Parkinson argued
that Britain, and other developed nations, could not avoid action.
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He said that developed nations had to help head off 鈥榯he pent-up demand鈥�
in Eastern Europe for more cars. 鈥楿nless we set an example we are not going
to be listened to by countries in the course of development,鈥� said Parkinson.
This statement contrasted strongly with the advance text of the speech,
which defends the government鈥檚 road policy. He said that 鈥榠n terms of global
effects, carbon dioxide emissions are now the main problem facing the transport
sector and, unless off-setting action is taken, they will rise roughly in
line with traffic鈥�.
He said the Department of Transport was forecasting an increase in traffic
of between 83 per cent and 142 per cent over the next 35 years. Despite
a disclaimer that the government did not intend to cater for all the extra
vehicles, 鈥榥ot building roads will not stop traffic growth鈥�. The department
is spending Pounds sterling 10 billion on building new roads.
Parkinson argued that 鈥榝undamental and controversial鈥� changes would
be needed to reduce traffic below the levels forecast. One possibility would
be to quadruple the price of petrol. But Britain would lose out unless this
action was taken internationally, he told the conference delegates.
He minimised the effect that better public transport would have on commuting
and said that the government had no plans in the short term to charge motorists
an extra fee for driving in cities such as London. But he added that the
government would watch experiments in the Netherlands to limit traffic growth.
Researchers from the Netherlands told the conference that the Dutch
government has decided to restrict any increase in traffic over the next
20 years to 20 per cent, through measures including improved public transport,
restricting road building and charging motorists extra for driving.
