Sustainability Action Plan

about this principle

The transport sector is responsible for 25% of UK carbon emissions (and that doesn't even include flying!)

Sutton has already won awards for sustainable transport including ‘most sustainable school' and ‘best council travel plan'. The sustainable transport principle would build upon these successes and will also tie in with the Smarter Travel Sutton initiative, providing alternatives to private car ownership such as car clubs and encouraging a co-ordinated approach to transport through, for example, work travel plans. This could involve developing safer cycling and pedestrian routes in some areas and could also include developing provision of alternative fuels such as oil recycling schemes for biodiesel production and electric charging points powered by renewable energy.

BioRegional have written a report outlining different scenarios for making transport in Sutton more sustainable. You can download a PDF of the report here.

Aim

For One Planet Living we need to reduce the ecological footprint of transport by at least 66%. But to do this we would need to stop flying and stop using petrol or diesel cars. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggests that we need to reduce transport related carbon emissions by 90% by 2050. Should this therefore be the target for Sutton? It is pretty clear that we need a nation-wide strategy for sustainable transport as our journeys do not begin and end in Sutton. But there is a lot we can do within the borough boundary. Check out the Sustainability Action Plan for some ideas.