Kathryn Ross from the Environment Agency gave a talk on carbon trading proposals (more information later). It was noted that aviation and surface transport are excluded from phase one but should be included in phase two. Currently, the UK has set itself tougher targets than agreed at Kyoto but we are not as yet on target to achieve them nor are we likely to.
The Department for Transport has been reluctant to include transport in carbon emission reduction targets, regarding the problem as too complicated and expensive, but it has also ignored the potential of “Smart Travel”, walking, cycling and journey planning to reduce transport-related carbon.
It has also become clear that the DfT’s faith in technological solutions to the problem is misguided but the costs of other solutions are not as great as the DfT suggests. Worryingly, the DfT do not appear to have considered security of oil supplies.
The media transport activists roundtable is to organise a meeting on how to deal with climate change.
Baroness Ros Scott of the Commission for Integrated Transport gave a talk on CfIT’s work programme which currently includes refreshing the transport debate, looking at best practice elsewhere, getting Government Departments to work together, road safety and looking at mass transit applications.
She said it must be acknowledged that competition is not between bus and train companies but between public transport and the car. She added that CfIT was open to suggestions from non-governmental organisations and regarded transport activists as key stakeholders on climate change issues.
She said CfIT was a small secretariat and uses consultants for most of its work and is entirely funded by the DfT. She also thought NGOs should be more active at informing the media and personalities (like Jeremy Clarkson) on road safety issues.
When asked how the DfT could justify the current requirement to build in optimism bias at 32% for road and guided bus schemes but at 57% for rail, even though a number of major rail projects have now come in under budget, Baroness Scott said she could understand the historical reasons for this but this should be looked into, given Network Rail’s recent performance.
It was also suggested that CfIT should take an overview of TravelWise schemes as these are locally funded and DfT is not involved.
Finally, Baroness Scott said she would be pleased to attend future CORE TAR meetings and asked to be kept informed of dates.
Whitehall Update: Stephen Joseph circulated his latest report, details below.
The DfT has issued its transport budget, details on its website.
It was noted the local transport plan training sessions had been well attended.
Norman Bradbury 20 November 2004
Stephen Joseph's News from Whitehall
DfT sorts out budgets
The department is close to agreeing its headline budgets for the next three years. The agreement will set out headline totals for rail, road, local transport and London but there will also be regional totals across roads and local transport for each region. The first of these regional programmes for the West Midlands was press-released a few weeks ago, but others have yet to be confirmed (presumably because the rows over the-Manchester Metrolink and the Leeds and Portsmouth tram have delayed agreement). Decisions on individual outstanding road scheme decisions will presumably follow. Indications are that because of rail costs there will be little money available for anything else. The West Midlands release merely rehashed previous announcements. With this in mind, some Government offices have been telling local authorities not to submit more than one major scheme in their next Local Transport Plans (or possibly at most one further smaller scheme in the £5 to 10million area). The Government is likely to publish its final guidance on local transport plans on 14 December, to coincide with a big conference it is running with the Local Government Association on the Future of Local Transport, aimed at local authority politicians and chief executives. Ministers aim to use this to push for smarter transport planning, following up the smarter choices research. The Transport Innovation Fund will also be pushed - the aim is to fund plans that tackle congestion regionally or sub-regionally, to show what can be done.
Rail unclear
It is still unclear how the railways will be planned and administered under the new arrangements. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has rejected a new Strategic Rail Agency but the outline of what is becoming known as DfT rail - how big it will be and what it will do - is still unclear. Mr Darling told us that he did want to grow the railways. The disappearance of the growth targets in the rail white paper merely reflected the fact that they were undeliverable and that he wanted the railways to concentrate on improved performance. Freight on Rail is meeting DfT this week to seek clarification on the planning framework for rail in general and railfreight in particular. At stake is the future of the SRA’s regional planning assessments and the people who have been doing them. Despite the Government’s noises about devolution, passenger transport executives are protesting that the Government proposes to take away their franchising powers, replacing them with a non-binding “memorandum of understanding”. Transport 2000 has found significant support for its growing the railways work, including from the CBI.
Roads: new forecasting guidance promised
At a Highways Agency Environment Committee last week, the Agency said that the DfT is drawing up new guidance on forecasting, modelling and appraisal, especially to take account of uncertainty. Despite the commitment to “locking in the benefits” from new roads, it is unclear whether this is actually happening. A new guidance note from DfT tells local authorities that the department will reappraise schemes where costs go up and reserves the right to cancel them. Overwhelming opposition is reported to the M6 Expressway idea but the Government may still proceed with it anyway. A proper response on road charging is promised in December or January (though it may be delayed till beyond a May election).
Briefing on carbon trading:
The implementation of the European Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme
Emissions trading is becoming an important part of the drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Emissions trading gives companies the flexibility to meet emissions targets according to their own strategy. By allowing participants to trade in allowances, overall emissions reductions are achieved in the most cost-effective way possible.
The EU Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme covers emissions of greenhouse gases from
a number of industries, which are specified in the EU Emissions Trading Directive. Initially, the
scheme will cover only emissions of carbon dioxide. The scheme is due to start on 1 January
2005.
How will the scheme work?
The scheme is split into phases:
• Phase one runs from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2007
• Phase two runs from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2012.
Limits on the amount of carbon dioxide that permitted installations can emit are set for each phase. This will be done by Defra. (Due to issues over the cap on emissions this could be later than 1 Jan. 05.)
Operators of installations covered by the scheme are then free to trade in allowances. For example, for an installation that has emitted less than its allowances, the operator may sell the suiplus allowances to another operator whose installation has emitted more carbon dioxide than its limit allows. This flexibility enables operators to meet the national limit at lowest cost.
What activities are covered?
Installations falling within the remit of the Directive include:
• Energy activities
• The production and processing of ferrous metals
• The production of cement clinker or lime
• The manufacture of glass and glass fibre
• The manufacture of ceramic bricks
• The production of pulp from timber or other fibrous materials
• The manufacture of paper and board.
How do operators get a permit?
In order for installations to emit carbon dioxide after 1 January 2005, operators of these installations must hold a permit. For the UK, these permits will be issued by:
• Environment Agency — England and Wales
• Scottish Environmental Protection Agency — Scotland
• Department of Environment, Northern Ireland
• Department of Trade and Industry - UK offshore installations.
Operators of installations covered by the scheme must apply to the appropriate organisation to obtain a permit. The permit will contain conditions that have to be complied with in respect of emissions of carbon dioxide, including monitoring and reporting requirements.
Operators of installations emitting more than 500 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide annually must
submit their plans by 30 June 2004. All operators of installations emitting less than 500
kilotonnes of carbon dioxide annually must submit their plans by 30 September 2004.
The distinction between permits and allowances should be noted; a permit needs to be held to enable allowances to be allocated to an installation covered by the scheme, but it does not determine the actual amount allocated.
The Government has made an application to exclude certain installations from the scheme because there is an overlap with the voluntary UK Emissions Trading Scheme that started in 2002.
For information on trading schemes generally please see:
http://www.environment-agencv.gov.uk/business/444217/590750/590838
For information on the ETS -
http://www.environment
agency.gov.uk/business/444217/590750/590838/556574/?version=1&lang=_e
For information on the UK emissions cap please see the defra website, specifically their press Q & A at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/trading/eu/nap/pdf/napcapqa-0410.pdf
The Department for Transport has been reluctant to include transport in carbon emission reduction targets, regarding the problem as too complicated and expensive, but it has also ignored the potential of “Smart Travel”, walking, cycling and journey planning to reduce transport-related carbon.
It has also become clear that the DfT’s faith in technological solutions to the problem is misguided but the costs of other solutions are not as great as the DfT suggests. Worryingly, the DfT do not appear to have considered security of oil supplies.
The media transport activists roundtable is to organise a meeting on how to deal with climate change.
Baroness Ros Scott of the Commission for Integrated Transport gave a talk on CfIT’s work programme which currently includes refreshing the transport debate, looking at best practice elsewhere, getting Government Departments to work together, road safety and looking at mass transit applications.
She said it must be acknowledged that competition is not between bus and train companies but between public transport and the car. She added that CfIT was open to suggestions from non-governmental organisations and regarded transport activists as key stakeholders on climate change issues.
She said CfIT was a small secretariat and uses consultants for most of its work and is entirely funded by the DfT. She also thought NGOs should be more active at informing the media and personalities (like Jeremy Clarkson) on road safety issues.
When asked how the DfT could justify the current requirement to build in optimism bias at 32% for road and guided bus schemes but at 57% for rail, even though a number of major rail projects have now come in under budget, Baroness Scott said she could understand the historical reasons for this but this should be looked into, given Network Rail’s recent performance.
It was also suggested that CfIT should take an overview of TravelWise schemes as these are locally funded and DfT is not involved.
Finally, Baroness Scott said she would be pleased to attend future CORE TAR meetings and asked to be kept informed of dates.
Whitehall Update: Stephen Joseph circulated his latest report, details below.
The DfT has issued its transport budget, details on its website.
It was noted the local transport plan training sessions had been well attended.
Norman Bradbury 20 November 2004
Stephen Joseph's News from Whitehall
DfT sorts out budgets
The department is close to agreeing its headline budgets for the next three years. The agreement will set out headline totals for rail, road, local transport and London but there will also be regional totals across roads and local transport for each region. The first of these regional programmes for the West Midlands was press-released a few weeks ago, but others have yet to be confirmed (presumably because the rows over the-Manchester Metrolink and the Leeds and Portsmouth tram have delayed agreement). Decisions on individual outstanding road scheme decisions will presumably follow. Indications are that because of rail costs there will be little money available for anything else. The West Midlands release merely rehashed previous announcements. With this in mind, some Government offices have been telling local authorities not to submit more than one major scheme in their next Local Transport Plans (or possibly at most one further smaller scheme in the £5 to 10million area). The Government is likely to publish its final guidance on local transport plans on 14 December, to coincide with a big conference it is running with the Local Government Association on the Future of Local Transport, aimed at local authority politicians and chief executives. Ministers aim to use this to push for smarter transport planning, following up the smarter choices research. The Transport Innovation Fund will also be pushed - the aim is to fund plans that tackle congestion regionally or sub-regionally, to show what can be done.
Rail unclear
It is still unclear how the railways will be planned and administered under the new arrangements. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has rejected a new Strategic Rail Agency but the outline of what is becoming known as DfT rail - how big it will be and what it will do - is still unclear. Mr Darling told us that he did want to grow the railways. The disappearance of the growth targets in the rail white paper merely reflected the fact that they were undeliverable and that he wanted the railways to concentrate on improved performance. Freight on Rail is meeting DfT this week to seek clarification on the planning framework for rail in general and railfreight in particular. At stake is the future of the SRA’s regional planning assessments and the people who have been doing them. Despite the Government’s noises about devolution, passenger transport executives are protesting that the Government proposes to take away their franchising powers, replacing them with a non-binding “memorandum of understanding”. Transport 2000 has found significant support for its growing the railways work, including from the CBI.
Roads: new forecasting guidance promised
At a Highways Agency Environment Committee last week, the Agency said that the DfT is drawing up new guidance on forecasting, modelling and appraisal, especially to take account of uncertainty. Despite the commitment to “locking in the benefits” from new roads, it is unclear whether this is actually happening. A new guidance note from DfT tells local authorities that the department will reappraise schemes where costs go up and reserves the right to cancel them. Overwhelming opposition is reported to the M6 Expressway idea but the Government may still proceed with it anyway. A proper response on road charging is promised in December or January (though it may be delayed till beyond a May election).
Briefing on carbon trading:
The implementation of the European Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme
Emissions trading is becoming an important part of the drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Emissions trading gives companies the flexibility to meet emissions targets according to their own strategy. By allowing participants to trade in allowances, overall emissions reductions are achieved in the most cost-effective way possible.
The EU Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme covers emissions of greenhouse gases from
a number of industries, which are specified in the EU Emissions Trading Directive. Initially, the
scheme will cover only emissions of carbon dioxide. The scheme is due to start on 1 January
2005.
How will the scheme work?
The scheme is split into phases:
• Phase one runs from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2007
• Phase two runs from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2012.
Limits on the amount of carbon dioxide that permitted installations can emit are set for each phase. This will be done by Defra. (Due to issues over the cap on emissions this could be later than 1 Jan. 05.)
Operators of installations covered by the scheme are then free to trade in allowances. For example, for an installation that has emitted less than its allowances, the operator may sell the suiplus allowances to another operator whose installation has emitted more carbon dioxide than its limit allows. This flexibility enables operators to meet the national limit at lowest cost.
What activities are covered?
Installations falling within the remit of the Directive include:
• Energy activities
• The production and processing of ferrous metals
• The production of cement clinker or lime
• The manufacture of glass and glass fibre
• The manufacture of ceramic bricks
• The production of pulp from timber or other fibrous materials
• The manufacture of paper and board.
How do operators get a permit?
In order for installations to emit carbon dioxide after 1 January 2005, operators of these installations must hold a permit. For the UK, these permits will be issued by:
• Environment Agency — England and Wales
• Scottish Environmental Protection Agency — Scotland
• Department of Environment, Northern Ireland
• Department of Trade and Industry - UK offshore installations.
Operators of installations covered by the scheme must apply to the appropriate organisation to obtain a permit. The permit will contain conditions that have to be complied with in respect of emissions of carbon dioxide, including monitoring and reporting requirements.
Operators of installations emitting more than 500 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide annually must
submit their plans by 30 June 2004. All operators of installations emitting less than 500
kilotonnes of carbon dioxide annually must submit their plans by 30 September 2004.
The distinction between permits and allowances should be noted; a permit needs to be held to enable allowances to be allocated to an installation covered by the scheme, but it does not determine the actual amount allocated.
The Government has made an application to exclude certain installations from the scheme because there is an overlap with the voluntary UK Emissions Trading Scheme that started in 2002.
For information on trading schemes generally please see:
http://www.environment-agencv.gov.uk/business/444217/590750/590838
For information on the ETS -
http://www.environment
agency.gov.uk/business/444217/590750/590838/556574/?version=1&lang=_e
For information on the UK emissions cap please see the defra website, specifically their press Q & A at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/trading/eu/nap/pdf/napcapqa-0410.pdf