Young people call for action over Cambridge’s carbon emissions

A call for urgent action on traffic reduction and carbon emissions is being made by young supporters of the Cambridgeshire Sustainable Travel Alliance.

The young people are urging residents to have their say in the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s Making Connections consultation.

Their plea for faster action here comes days after the climate conference COP27 closed in Egypt.

Transport accounts for 20 per cent of carbon emissions in Cambridge and 44 per cent in the wider Cambridgeshire and Peterborough region.

The GCP predicts the proposals for a Sustainable Travel Zone with a road user charge would cut car journeys by 50 per cent, saving 33,300 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents) in the first year. It says proposals to transform the bus network through more services to more locations, with cheaper fares, could start from as early as 2023.

Eleanor, a parent and rural resident of Cambridgeshire, said she thought the benefits of the scheme would be “less congestion and pollution in Cambridge, easier and safer transport for those who don’t drive, and cuts in fossil fuel use to help mitigate the worst effects of climate change”.

Peter, who is retired and lives in the city, said that reducing vehicle movements could “enable a real contribution to the regional and national targets to reduce carbon and particulate emissions” and would also be beneficial for health.

The GCP says the improvements would be phased in over four years before the introduction of a road user charge, which thousands have signed petitions against.