Transport Scotland to tackle carbon emissions from business travel

Sept. 13, 2010 - PRLog -- According to figures revealed in Transport Scotland’s 2010-2013 Travel Plan, the distance covered by officials from Transport Scotland on business trips increased from 1.46 million kilometres per year in November 2006 to 2.07 million kilometres per year in November 2008. This led to an average carbon emissions rise from 480 kg to 638 kg per person over the same period, amounting to an additional 77,000 kg CO2 a year. The report says that the 53% rise in carbon emissions is related to staff air travel.

Transport Scotland set a target to reduce overall carbon emissions by 8% when it published its first ever travel plan in 2007. The new report reveals that it had successfully reduced carbon emissions arising from staff commuting by around 15%, but carbon emissions from business travel increased over the same period, with the result that the body’s total travel carbon footprint increased by 3%.

As a result, Transport Scotland wants to tackle this increase in carbon emissions with new challenging carbon emission targets for business travel. The organization wants to reduce annual carbon emissions from business travel by 15% by 2013.

The way to do this will be by replacing Glasgow to Edinburgh rail travel with audio and videoconferencing and cutting air journeys between Scotland and London, among other measures. As part of the plan, Transport Scotland directors will have to pre-approve all domestic air travel and a new travel plan coordinator will ask frequent travelers whether their journeys are essential.

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