CEN Talks: Building back cleaner air - a podcast by Conservative Environment Network

Listen to a recording of our first webinar with our great guest speakers:

• Rachel Maclean MP, Minister for Transport Decarbonisation and CEN Alumna
  
  


• Selaine Saxby, CEN MP for North Devon and Chair of the APPG on Cycling
  
  


• Laura Round, CEN Councillor for Pembridge in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
  
  


• Nicholas Boys Smith, Founding Director of Create Streets, Commissioner of Historic England and an Academician of the Academy of Urbanism.

Lockdown has drastically reduced transport emissions as people have stayed home to protect the NHS. This has led to noticeably cleaner air, with quantifiable health benefits, including reports of improved outcomes for those who have suffered from Covid and related respiratory issues. In the short term, many will be encouraged to turn to active travel such as cycling and micro-mobility solutions like e-scooters for their socially distanced commute. Long term, there is an opportunity to change the way we travel, particularly how we get to work, and lock in the cleaner air and the better health outcomes it brings.

The shift away from the internal combustion engine and the adoption of active travel are also vital steps on the road to net zero. With this in mind, the Department for Transport recently published a high-level vision for the future of transport and have sought ideas from across society and the economy on how to decarbonise our transport system. The response to Covid-19 could help accelerate the strategy’s ambition for ‘public transport and active travel [to] be the natural first choice for our daily activities’.

From the provision of cycling infrastructure and layout of roads, to planning decisions over new housing developments and bus policies, local authorities have a key role to play in making our communities cleaner, greener, and healthier places to live. Although local and metro mayor elections have been postponed until next year due to Covid-19, there is now a vibrant debate on how best to transform urban and suburban areas, so that the pollution doesn’t come back as our economies reopen.

Further episodes of CEN Talks

Further podcasts by Conservative Environment Network

Website of Conservative Environment Network