Never a day goes by without another climate change story appearing in the press. Some say the end of the world is nigh, while others play it all down. Whichever camp you fall into ­ and many of us land somewhere in the middle ground ­ arming yourself and your organisation with pertinent information will help in reaching the right decisions.

BP chief executive Tony Hayward, recently told the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers: “Fears about climate change and its consequences are both well founded and contributing to perhaps the fastest-growing international political movement in our lifetime, on a par with the civil rights movement in the US in the 1960s. Many people fear an insoluble conflict between two equally unpalatable outcomes: limiting economic growth and prosperity, or ruining the planet.”

Prime suspect for driving climate change is the transport industry. But while transport and its gluttony for fossil fuel undoubtedly has a significant impact, there is a great deal of misinformation and ill-founded speculation out there.

There’s no shortage of information suppliers who have cottoned on that the environment and climate change are key areas for current research. However, as Rebecca Lush from Transport 2000 points out: “Government holds most of the information on transport and climate change, but it’s not easy to find as much of it is embarrassing. The impact of carbon dioxide is a deeply hidden secret and government has used every excuse to prevent information from reaching the public and those seeking to make intelligent decisions.”

Phil Sivell, head of climate change at the Transport Research Laboratory, is more pragmatic. “The information is out there, but how do we sort the wheat from the chaff?” he asks.

Dig it yourself
Sivell thinks the onus is still on the individual to make the effort to find out, rather than government and environmental bodies making available clearly understood and accessible information. “Individuals and small organisations looking to plan for the future will have to do a lot of digging and self-education,” he says. “Once they have found information, the next problem is knowing what they are looking at.”

So what can be done to make relevant information more available to help organisations understand climate change and develop environmentally friendly transport plans? Gerry Metcalf, knowledge transfer manager of the UK Climate Impacts Programme, says: “Forward planning is key to making use of the latest scientific information. Some impacts will be felt across all business sectors, such as the potential for disruption to distribution networks.”

Sivell adds: “I think what’s needed is to bring the baseline information into one place. Companies operating big fleets of cars, vans or trucks will know where to get detailed information, but smaller operators would benefit from a one-stop shop similar to the government’s Envirowise programme.”

Starting at a local level is a good option for individuals, smaller companies and other organisations. Beginning with simple information builds foundations for more complex matters and decisions.

“A local chamber of commerce is a good starting point, so you’re not overloaded with unnecessary information,” says Sivell. “Any information needs to be presented in a way that can be easily comprehended. I think any source needs a number of elements, such as good practice case studies, and it should be kept simple.”

Getting a handle on climate change and environmental information is vital for organisations if they are to minimise the impact they have on the environment and to maximise their profit ­ not necessarily mutually exclusive goals.

Transport 2000 is dedicated to reducing the environmental and social impact of cars and trucks, and aims to encourage people to use less damaging forms of transport. But it’s not blind to the needs of business.

Lush says: “It’s important for the public to be convinced that government and business are pulling their weight, pulling out all the stops and making it worthwhile for all of us to make a contribution to reduce climate change.”

“Cost is the key reason for businesses and organisations to seek out information on climate change,” Sivell says. “An efficient fleet, whether that’s planes, trains or automobiles, costs less to run and is good public relations for anyone. There’s also the weight of corporate responsibility for business. Get it right and it all helps employees become more aware, which subsequently helps a business or any organisation to grow and develop. But any company or organisation needs to be proactive and make key decisions before problems arise.”

Be clear about your needs
All of this explains why any organisation should be seeking out information on climate change, but what should they be looking for when trying to make some of the most important and costly decisions they are likely to encounter? It sounds obvious for a company to establish what its needs are and to ask themselves what they need to know, yet many ignore such basics.

“Look for clear methodology in any information you come across,” advises Lush. “It can be very confusing when the same piece of information flits between talking about carbon dioxide emissions and carbon footprint, which are two separate issues. You should also look for an even balance of information, not just something promoting the positives. There is also the problem that many people don’t know if the figures are big or small, good or bad, so easily understood real-life comparisons are very useful as they help anyone put their needs into perspective.”

Metcalf says: “There are a number of ways to get the right information and make the most of it. First, appoint one person to take overall responsibility for the project. Assess where you are at present as this will allow you to see what needs to be done now and in the future.”

There are any number of sources of information on climate change and how transport has a bearing on it, and vice versa. Many are government-based or funded, while many are from campaign groups. The key is to research widely around the topic to gain an overview that allows any organisation to then focus on the areas most relevant to them and seek information from more specialist sources.

While the current plethora of information can be confusing, the future looks set to provide more clear-cut facts and data. “Simplicity is vital,” says Sivell. “This is a rapidly changing area, but the bottom line is: what is an organisation’s planning like? Finding the right information is only one part of a cohesive strategy.”

There is, though, a shift towards more regulated information. “There will inevitably be both voluntary and legislative changes to the supply of climate change information,” says Sivell. “The more organisations resist change, the greater the likelihood of legislative change. When change is forced on us, it takes it out of our hands. I believe business should be about leadership and that includes pressing to make information more readily available, more easily understood and its principles easier to implement.”

Lush gives a bleaker assessment: “The supply of information in this area will become mandatory as climate change is far too serious and important to leave to voluntary contributions. A voluntary system allows negative information to be glossed over and ignored. This is not good for anyone in the long term.”

But there are plenty of others who believe that climate change and transport planning go hand in hand. As the need to find new and more inventive ways to transport people and goods increases, it fuels the demand for better, more accurate information.

As Tristan Young, editor-in-chief of Business Car magazine, points out: “Until company car drivers started paying benefit-in-kind tax based on the CO2 emissions of their car, very few people outside of automotive engineers really understood this area. Now that it affects the pockets of millions of drivers in the UK, information is readily available from the government, car manufacturers, independent bodies and even the companies that buy cars for their employees. The demand for higher quality information will be what determines how quickly change comes about.”
Despite his warnings about potential climate catastrophe, BP’s Hayward remains cautiously optimistic. “History firmly suggests that all of these problems are susceptible to action and innovation,” he says. “This process can be aided or hindered by the way governments perform their role of policy making and the enactment of law, but the reasonable position to take is that most problems can be solved by the actions we take now.”

Wheels versus wings
In the UK, transport accounts for 28% of all energy expended. Around 22 percentage points of this is down to road-bound vehicles, and the rest is attributable to aviation, although aerospace accounts for more on a global scale. These figures also ignore aeroplane emissions further into the atmosphere where there is strong evidence that it has a much more harmful effect than those at ground level.

In the case of planes, it’s not just the carbon dioxide (CO2) they pump out but also the water vapour and nitrogen oxides they create that is overheating the planet. The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change estimates that the global warming effect of planes is around 1.9 times that of cars, with the result that cars and planes have much the same effect on a passenger per mile basis.

The average annual distance travelled by a car in the UK is 9,000 miles, with an average consumption of 32mpg. That requires 280 gallons of fuel and generates around 2.95 tonnes of CO2, based on one litre of petrol producing 2.3kg of CO2. To put this in perspective, a single passenger making one return flight to New York would require the same amount of fuel and produce the same CO2 emissions.

Short-haul culprit
It may sound drastically disproportionate that a plane uses so much fuel, but when you consider the distance covered is much the same at around 9,000 miles, the figures even out. However, long-haul flights are less common, and it’s the short-haul flights of 500 miles or less that cause a great deal more pollution.

With the current boom in aviation, the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research has predicted that all other areas of the economy would have to stop emitting CO2 to allow the aviation industry to continue expanding at its current rate.

The automotive industry has been much quicker to embrace environmental concerns, although many will argue that it’s too little. Ever stricter emissions regulations have been introduced for new cars. With this in mind, and recognising that environmental acceptability helps sell more cars, the automotive industry is one of the best at making information available to its customers.

Contacts
www.envirowise.gov.uk
www.transport2000.org.uk
www.toyota.co.uk/prius
www.trl.co.uk
www.bp.com
www.dft.gov.uk
www.tyndall.ac.uk
www.ukcip.org.uk